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QUICK START GUIDE

Is this book for you? Check the boxes that often describe you:

□ Do you keep your thoughts to yourself, assuming you don’t

have anything important to share?
□ If you’re not completely sure you can do something, do you
think, “Why bother trying?”
□ Do you avoid talking to people, worrying that you’ll have
nothing to say or come across as awkward?
□ Do you second-guess yourself frequently?
□ Do you apologize excessively, even when you haven’t done
anything wrong?
□ Do you hold yourself back from taking risks because you’re
afraid you’ll fail?
□ When you feel you didn’t perform well, do you spend lots of
time afterward ruminating on your mistakes?
□ Do you give up easily?
□ Does your inner voice tell you, “I’m not good enough; I can’t do
it”?
□ Do you avoid pursuing some of your goals and dreams because
of fear and self-doubt?

If you checked several of the boxes, read on to learn about proven

strategies to build your self-confidence.
 To you, the reader:

May you have the confidence to show up, stand up, and speak up.

The world needs your gifts.

 CONTENTS

Foreword
Introduction

PART 1: SETTING THE STAGE

Chapter 1: Understanding Self-Confidence
Chapter 2: Setting Goals and Getting Started

PART 2: THE STRATEGIES

Chapter 3: Practice Acceptance
Chapter 4: Calm Your Body
Chapter 5: Work with Your Thoughts
Chapter 6: Work with Your Beliefs
Chapter 7: Face Your Fears
Chapter 8: Moving Forward

Resources
References
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
HOW TO USE THIS WORKBOOK ON AN
EBOOK DEVICE
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This method is the same on nearly all touch-screen ebook devices, but
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results.
FOREWORD

RESEARCH HAS SHOWN that self-confidence is linked to

almost everything we want in life: success at work, secure relationships, a
positive sense of self, and happiness. But what is self-confidence? Why
does it appear to be so mysterious? Why does it seem like other people
have it and we don’t?
In my work as a psychologist, I often find low self-confidence is a
common denominator regardless of the problem people come in for. For
example, I worked with a young man who suffered from loneliness but
was afraid to ask anyone out on a date. He didn’t believe he was attractive
enough, or interesting enough, or fun enough. Another client I worked with
was a successful businesswoman who was experiencing severe burnout.
She took on too many projects, didn’t delegate well, and was prone to
perfectionism. Underneath it all, she felt like an impostor, and she
overworked herself to compensate. Both, at their core, lacked self-
confidence.
My clients typically say, “I don’t feel confident, so I couldn’t possibly
. . . [insert desired goal here].” Can you relate? Not many of us are taught
how confidence truly works. We get it backwards: We believe we have to
wait until we feel confident before we can act confidently. That is why I
am so excited you have this book in your hands. You are finally going to
learn the truth about confidence: what it is, where it comes from, and how
to master the rules of the confidence game. No matter your personality or
circumstances, this workbook will show you how to move from passivity
to actively pursuing your goals.
As a therapist, I’m also excited to have this book as a resource. I
frequently assign reading and outside activities to my clients, and The
Self-Confidence Workbook fills a much-needed gap. It’s grounded in the
latest advances in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance
and Commitment Therapy (ACT), yet it’s reader-friendly, presenting the
skills you need in easy-to-digest nuggets. Each chapter contains valuable
exercises and includes highly practical action items. Although the book is
grounded in science, you won’t get bogged down in technical jargon or
long explanations of theory.
I first met Dr. Barbara Markway when we both worked at the Anxiety
Disorders Center at the St. Louis University School of Medicine over
twenty years ago. I was a psychologist and she was a postdoctoral fellow
completing advanced training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. A skilled
and caring therapist, she was also passionate about writing. She was adept
at taking scientific information and putting it in everyday language in
order to help people beyond her own office.
During her time at the Center for OCD and Anxiety-Related Disorders,
we co-authored, along with Dr. Alec Pollard and Dr. Cheryl Carmin, Dying
of Embarrassment: Help for Social Anxiety and Phobia . Dr. Markway
went on to write two other books for those suffering with shyness and
social anxiety, Painfully Shy and Nurturing the Shy Child . In addition to
her writing, she maintained a clinical practice in a number of settings,
from outpatient mental health clinics to private practice.
Dr. Markway has helped thousands of people build confidence and
accomplish things they never dreamed possible, and I can’t think of a
better guide for you in your own journey to self-confidence.
I wish you well on this journey.

Teresa Flynn, PhD

Psychologist and Author
Adjunct Professor of Psychology
Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri
INTRODUCTION

I HAVE A CONFESSION TO MAKE. If you asked me

to describe myself, I’d use words such as creative , kind , persistent , and
hardworking . But I don’t think self-confident would even make the top 10
list of adjectives. That’s because when I’ve historically thought of self-
confidence, I’ve pictured someone flashy and bold, and I’m definitely not
that. But what I’ve learned is that self-confidence doesn’t have to look
flashy. In fact, self-confidence has more to do with inner resolve than with
outward bravado.
I actually have a healthy degree of self-confidence now, but it wasn’t
always that way. I grew up a shy, anxious kid who rarely spoke to people
other than my close friends and family. Although bright, I never raised my
hand in class to answer a question. I was too afraid even to ask to go to the
bathroom. In high school, my math teacher announced to the whole class
that I was the quietest kid he had ever taught in his entire teaching career. I
was humiliated. Everyone turned around to look at me, and I could feel my
face turning hot and red. I went on to college and continued to do well in
school, but never dated or enjoyed much of a social life. I was always
interested in psychology, partly because I was trying to understand myself.
Why was I so shy and quiet? Why couldn’t I just break out of my shell?
Why couldn’t I just be myself? I ended up in graduate school studying
clinical psychology and earned my PhD.
Along the way, I went through a lot of psychotherapy that proved very
helpful. I learned to speak up. I learned my opinion mattered. I also
learned it was okay to be wrong. I even mustered up the courage to ask my
now-husband of nearly 30 years out on a date. Somewhere along the way, I
became self-confident—I just didn’t label it as such.
I became a psychotherapist and was naturally drawn to helping people
with anxiety. There is nothing more satisfying than helping people learn to
believe in themselves and master something that once terrified them. I
also went on to write three books on overcoming social anxiety and
shyness.
 Over my nearly 30-year career, whether it’s been through face-to-face
therapy sessions or through my writing, I have helped thousands of people
learn to be more self-confident. They’ve all had something they wanted to
do—something important, something they valued—but they were letting
fear, doubt, and lack of confidence stand in their way. I’m guessing that if
you’ve picked up this book, you may be in the same boat.
The good news is you’re completely normal. I know when you’re in
the middle of a self-confidence crisis, it can seem like you’re the only one
struggling and that everyone else has it all together. But you’re not alone,
and this book will help. I’m excited to share with you all I’ve learned
about building a meaningful, confident life.
I’ve enlisted the help of a friend and fellow writer, Celia Ampel. As a
shy person, she started reading my work while studying journalism at the
University of Missouri. As a reporter, she has also overcome many of the
fears that used to overwhelm her as a kid—she no longer has to write out a
script before making a phone call—and much of that progress is thanks to
the tools you’ll learn in this book. Although we’re creating this book as a
team, we know it can be confusing to switch back and forth between us,
alerting the reader to who is saying what. So this book is written in my
“voice.”
While I hope this book will be helpful, I’m not suggesting that after
reading it you will never doubt yourself again. It’s not realistic to expect
yourself to have unshakable self-confidence. Everyone struggles with self-
doubt and lack of confidence from time to time. It’s part of being human.
What this book will do is teach you tools, grounded in science, to help
keep your self-critic from jerking you around. You’ll learn to set
meaningful goals, deal with your inner doubts, and not second-guess
yourself all the time. You’ll be able to walk out on that stage, ask for a
raise, write that blog post, or ask someone out on a date. I’m not saying it
will always be easy, but it will be possible. And you won’t be on the
journey alone. I’ll be guiding you all the way.
 PART 1

SETTING THE STAGE

ackling the demons of self-doubt is a brave and worthy pursuit. At

T times, you’re going to feel discouraged or scared, but that just means
you’re really trying, which is infinitely better than allowing low self-
confidence to keep you on the sidelines of life. The first two chapters of
this book will lay the foundation for the work you’ll do to bolster your
self-confidence in later sections.
In chapter 1 , we’ll dismantle common misconceptions about self-
confidence and learn what it really is, where it comes from, and most
importantly, that you are totally capable of attaining it. You’ll get a sense
of how confident you are right now, setting a baseline from which to
measure your growth. You’ll see how different life can be when you have
the gusto to go for your goals.
In chapter 2 , you’ll examine what’s really important to you,
identifying the values closest to your heart so that you can make an action
plan that aligns with who you want to be. Then you’ll set goals,
envisioning a life where self-doubt doesn’t hold you back from advancing
in your career, setting a good example for your kids, facing conflict,
building strong relationships, or making a difference in your community.
You’ll learn about the science behind the tried-and-true methods this book
is based on, all of which will help you get out of your own way and be the
best version of yourself. So give yourself a pat on the back for getting
started, and let’s go!
 CHAPTER 1

UNDERSTANDING SELF-
CONFIDENCE

“IF YOU HEAR A VOICE WITHIN YOU SAYING,

‘YOU CANNOT PAINT,’ THEN BY ALL MEANS
PAINT AND THAT VOICE WILL BE SILENCED.”
—VINCENT VAN GOGH

If you had all the confidence in the world, what would you do?

Larry would start that novel he’s been wanting to write.

Rita would talk to her boss about the promotion she was promised six
months ago.
LaShonda would talk to her partner about how she’s been feeling
disconnected in the relationship.

What about you?

What would you do if you had all the confidence in the world? Take a
minute and jot down the first thing that comes to mind.
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Larry, Rita, and LaShonda don’t want confidence simply for the sake of
confidence.

Larry wants to express his creativity.

Rita wants to stick up for herself.
LaShonda wants to improve her relationship.
 My guess is there’s something you want, but self-doubt and insecurity
are holding you back. That’s why I wrote this workbook: to help you take
steps toward being your best self.
In this chapter, I will define self-confidence and what it can do for you.
Together, we’ll explore some myths about what confidence looks like and
explain its true origins. Then we’ll examine where low self-confidence
comes from: Which life experiences might have shaped your beliefs about
yourself? At the end of the chapter, you’ll take a self-assessment to
determine your current level of confidence.

Start at the Source

Confidence is a mysterious quality. It’s one of those things we’d all like to
have, but what does it really mean to be confident?
Most of the time, it’s defined as a feeling: “I feel confident I can run the
5K in 28 minutes.” We typically associate this type of confidence with
calm, ease, and assurance. When we feel confident, we anticipate being
successful.
The problem with defining confidence as a feeling is that in practice it
becomes a catch-22: If you don’t feel confident, you’re not likely to try.
There’s another definition of confidence, although it’s not as common.
The Latin roots of confidence mean “with trust.” Acting with trust usually
means you’re not completely certain of what you’re doing—you’re taking a
leap of faith. In other words, it’s what we do that matters, not so much how
we feel when we’re doing it.
We can see this principle in action by considering the example of
Darnell, a man who ordinarily kept to himself. Darnell was passionate about
a zoning issue affecting his neighborhood, but he didn’t like attention and
feared standing up in front of the city council to speak his mind.
However, after reminding himself of how important the issue was to
him and his neighbors, Darnell showed up to the meeting and said his piece,
even as his hands shook. He didn’t wait for his nervousness to subside
entirely—then he might never have been able to speak. Instead, he gathered
courage by rooting himself in his beliefs and then taking action.
 In this book, I’ll use the following definition of self-confidence: the
willingness to take steps toward valued goals, even if you’re anxious and
the outcome is unknown. True self-confidence is part courage, part
competence, with a healthy dose of self-compassion mixed in. I’ll break
this definition into bite-size chunks as we move through the workbook. For
now, the key points to remember are:

Actions come before feelings.

Actions are guided by values—the things you care about.
Process is more important than outcome.

WHERE CONFIDENCE COMES FROM

Our beliefs about ourselves are often shaped by those around us, including
family, friends, and media messages, sociologists have found. But that
doesn’t mean your level of confidence is out of your control—in fact, it’s
quite the contrary.
Confidence comes from being grounded in your sense of self:
remembering who you are, what you value, and the hard work you’ve put in.
Studies show that a simple thought exercise can help people decrease
their anxiety ahead of having to perform a task in a high-stakes situation. In
research led by psychologists David Creswell and David Sherman,
participants were asked to take a moment to reflect on a core value—say,
being a good friend or respecting the environment. Then, each person wrote
about a memory of a time they embodied that value.
Those who did the exercise had far lower adrenaline levels heading into
stressful situations, such as exams or public speeches, than those who didn’t
—even if the core values weren’t at all relevant to the task at hand. What
mattered was that the participants were contemplating a deep truth about
themselves, rather than a hollow slogan, such as “I’m the best.” I’ll walk
you through some similar exercises in chapter 2 .
A connection to our authentic selves can also help us take some of the
pressure off ourselves going into scary situations. When Tanya was set to
give a toast at her sister’s wedding, she was extraordinarily anxious about
having all eyes on her. She worried about her hands shaking and her voice
quavering. But when she thought about it, impressing all 200 guests with a
perfectly delivered speech didn’t truly matter to her. What was really
important to Tanya was showing her sister and new brother-in-law how
much she loved them and hoped for their happiness. With that principle in
mind, she stood up at the ceremony with mostly calm nerves and gave a
heartfelt toast that strengthened the bonds she valued the most.
Of course, not all self-doubt is a bad thing! Sometimes fear is a signal
that we haven’t prepared enough for the big presentation, the recital, or the
interview. Practicing what you plan to say and do will give your mind
something to fall back on when the pressure is high. The voice of self-doubt
may also be saying we need to get more information, move in a different
direction, or take a break.
But we often err on the side of hesitating too much. Once you’ve put in
the hours of practice, you should be able to take action without obsessing
over what might go wrong. In this book, we will provide you with the tools
to adjust your mind-set to a place of confidence.

QUIET CONFIDENCE

“There’s zero correlation between being the best

talker and having the best ideas.”
—SUSAN CAIN
Have you ever felt like you had a great idea, but you weren’t confident
enough to share it? Maybe you thought you weren’t outgoing enough,
assuming that only talkative people get noticed.
It’s true that society tends to place more value on extroversion.
That means if you’re an introvert, you may have struggled more with
self-confidence, feeling like you don’t fit in or are somehow defective.
Fortunately, thanks in part to Susan Cain’s best-selling book,
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking,
introverts are coming into their own, and many of the myths about
introversion are being challenged.
So, if you’re a self-described introvert, don’t worry. You are not
going to have to change your personality to enjoy greater self-
confidence. As Mahatma Gandhi wisely said, “In a gentle way, you can
shake the world.”
WHAT IT MEANS TO BE CONFIDENT

When you envision a confident person, you might think of someone who
takes big, bold actions, like running for office or proposing marriage on the
jumbotron. But there can be a lot of boldness and bravery in small steps.
Confidence isn’t something you have to possess every moment of every
day. Nor should you expect to jump instantly into perfect self-assurance
tomorrow. Instead, confidence is a choice to take steps to act in line with
your values.
Those incremental changes build on themselves, both through our own
feelings of accomplishment and reinforcement from others. But in order to
set off that virtuous cycle, it’s important to practice self-compassion:
speaking to yourself with the kindness and patience you would show a loved
one or a child.
For example, when Sofia moved to a new city with her husband, she
knew she wanted to make more friends. She heard about a free poetry
workshop at a local café, and although she enjoyed writing, she was hesitant
to attend. What if she had to read her amateur poetry in front of everyone?
Sofia told herself it was okay just to go, even if she didn’t speak up as
much as other people. She introduced herself to a few others at the table and
participated in the writing prompts, but stayed silent when the instructor
asked for volunteers to read their poems. At the very end of the event, she
raised her hand once to thank the teacher for the workshop.
On the way home, Sofia had a choice. She could let her inner critic run
wild, saying, You’re such a weirdo . . . You sat there silently the whole night
. . . People probably wondered why you were even there, and they found you
unfriendly, too! Those thoughts would probably convince her the night had
been a failure and that she should never go back to the monthly meetings.
Or, instead, Sofia could congratulate herself. She could see attending
the workshop as a big, bold step—hey, by thanking the instructor, she even
spoke in front of the whole group! Next month, she can set a goal to go
back, have more conversations with the other participants, and maybe even
share her writing. Her self-compassion, a concept we’ll explore more later
in the book, will allow her confidence to grow.
 As Sofia shows us, you don’t have to change your personality to be
confident. There is emotional complexity in confidence. You can be strong
and bold, but also honest, kind, and comfortable.
Think about a time you let your inner critic stop you from trying
something new. What could you say to yourself next time to be more self-
compassionate?
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WHAT CONFIDENCE IS NOT

Some of us fear confidence because we don’t want to start stepping on other

people’s toes, taking up too much space, or just plain being a jerk. But
confidence isn’t the same as arrogance or narcissism. In fact, when we feel
confident in ourselves, we often become less self-absorbed. When we stop
worrying so much about how we’re coming across, we can pay more
attention to those around us.
Confidence is not about being the one who speaks the loudest or who
dominates every moment. It’s also not about having a fancy car or other
symbols of wealth or status. It’s about being rooted in who you really are,
freeing up your mind from obsessive worry and self-doubt.

Confidence is about being rooted in who you really are.

Staying grounded in a sense of self includes having a realistic view of

your strengths as well as your weaknesses. Confidence can be a helpful
buffer against internalizing unhelpful criticism that doesn’t have much to
do with what you really value—for instance, you can let your mother-in-
law’s comment about your hairstyle roll off your back. That doesn’t mean
you ignore all criticism because you believe you’re already perfect.
On the contrary, a confident person can accept helpful feedback and act
on it without getting defensive. When your sense of self-worth is no longer
on the table, you can handle criticism or even outright rejection without
allowing it to break you.
By the same token, confidence doesn’t mean you mow other people
down when a conflict arises. It’s possible to speak your mind with
conviction and still make room to listen to someone else’s point of view,
and even reach a compromise.
Lastly, confidence doesn’t mean you won’t fail. It doesn’t mean you’re
always smiling or that you never experience anxiety or self-doubt. Instead,
it means you know you can handle those feelings and push through them to
conquer the next challenge.

Who is someone you think embodies confidence and why?

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THE CONFIDENCE CURVE

Did you ever think you could have too much self-confidence? Let’s
look at an example that shows how self-confidence is all about
balance. Too little confidence and you avoid trying new things, pass on
taking even small risks, and miss out on engaging in activities that
would make life more meaningful and enjoyable. Too much confidence
—confidence not grounded in reality—can get you into trouble.
Let’s look at this in action. Imagine you’re scheduled to give a
presentation. The chart below shows the difference between being
confident and overconfident.

Confident Overconfident

I am well prepared. I know I can do this. I know this material so well, I’m not
going to prepare.

I will do my best to connect with the audience. The audience better love me.

I might not give a flawless presentation, but I’ll I’m too perfect to make a mistake.
learn from my mistakes.

I’ll listen to the audience’s questions and then I’ll just wing the Q and A part.
thoughtfully respond.

It’s OK if I don’t have all the answers. I’m the expert. I know everything.

Although this example might seem extreme, it illustrates some

important points. First, confidence involves preparation. You have to
put in the needed work ahead of time. Second, confidence doesn’t
mean you won’t make mistakes; you will, but the mistakes won’t crush
you. You’ll take the feedback and learn from it. And finally, confidence
involves listening.

Reasons for Low Self-Confidence

The most important thing to know about low self-confidence is that it is not
your fault. Many people struggle with negative self-perception for a variety
of reasons. This book applies to people with a wide range of self-confidence
issues and differing levels of severity. If you have been diagnosed with an
anxiety disorder or depression, you can use this book in conjunction with
your other therapies.
The factors that contribute to low self-confidence combine and interact
differently for each person. Your genes, cultural background, childhood
experiences, and other life circumstances all play a role. But don’t lose
heart—although we can’t change the experiences in our past that shaped us,
there is plenty we can do to alter our thoughts and expectations to gain more
confidence.

GENES AND TEMPERAMENT

Some of what molds our self-confidence is built into our brains at birth. I
mention these factors not to overwhelm you but to let you know that you
shouldn’t blame yourself for your self-image.
Studies have shown that our genetic makeup affects the amount of
certain confidence-boosting chemicals our brain can access. Serotonin, a
neurotransmitter associated with happiness, and oxytocin, the “cuddle
hormone,” can both be inhibited by certain genetic variations. Somewhere
between 25 and 50 percent of the personality traits linked to confidence
may be inherited.
Some aspects of our behavior also stem from our temperament. If
you’re naturally more hesitant and watchful, especially in unfamiliar
circumstances, you may have a tendency called behavioral inhibition .
When you’re confronted with a situation, you stop and check to see if
everything seems the way you expected it to be. If something appears awry,
you’re likely to move away from the situation.
Behavioral inhibition is not all bad. We need some people in the world
who don’t impulsively jump into every situation. If you’re a cautious and
reserved person, self-confidence may have eluded you. But once you
understand yourself and the tools in this book, you’ll be able to work with
your temperament and not fight it.
LIFE EXPERIENCES

A number of individual experiences can lead to feeling completely unsure

of yourself or even worthless. Here, I’ll discuss a few.

Trauma. Physical, sexual, and emotional abuse can all significantly

affect our feelings of self-worth. If you find yourself replaying
memories of abuse or otherwise feeling tormented by or ashamed of
your experiences, please consider seeking treatment from a licensed
clinician.
Parenting style. The way we were treated in our family of origin can
affect us long after childhood. For instance, if you had a parent who
constantly belittled you, compared you to others, or told you that you
would never amount to anything, you likely carry those messages with
you today. A parent’s struggles with mental health and substance abuse
can also change your relationship with the world.
Bullying, harassment, and humiliation. Childhood bullying can leave
a mark on your confidence when it comes to looks, intellectual and
athletic abilities, and other areas of your life. Humiliating experiences
in adulthood, including workplace harassment or a peer group that
disrespects or demeans you, can also make you less willing to speak up
for yourself or pursue ambitious goals.
Gender, race, and sexual orientation. Scores of studies show women
are socialized to worry more about how they’re perceived and,
therefore, to take fewer risks. Racial and cultural background and sexual
orientation can make a difference, too. If you’ve been on the receiving
end of discrimination, or are a member of any marginalized identity,
you may have also internalized some negative, untrue messages about
your potential and whether you “belong.”

MISINFORMATION

Lack of self-confidence can come from not knowing the “rules” of the
confidence game. For example, if we think we have to feel confident in
order to act confidently, we set ourselves up for failure. As we saw in the
example of Darnell and the city council meeting, it goes the other way
around.
 Perfectionism is another form of faulty thinking that contributes to low
self-confidence. If we believe we have to have something all figured out
before we take action, those thoughts can keep us from doing the things we
value. Even learning and understanding what confidence is and isn’t, as
you’re doing in this chapter, is a big step toward boosting it.

THE WORLD AROUND US

Many media messages are designed to make us feel lacking. Companies

that want to sell you products usually start by making you feel bad about
yourself, often by introducing a “problem” with your body that you would
never have noticed otherwise. (The movie Mean Girls memorably skewered
this idea: The main character, new to American high school culture after
years of homeschooling in Africa, is bewildered when her new clique stands
around a mirror criticizing themselves. “My hairline is so weird,” says one.
“My nail beds suck!” proclaims another.)
Now that social media has become ubiquitous, the messages hit closer
to home. It’s easy to believe that everyone around you has the perfect
marriage, a dream career, and supermodel looks to boot. But remember:
What people post online is heavily curated and edited. Everyone has bad
days, self-doubt, and physical imperfections. They just don’t trot them out
on Facebook!

“ONE REASON WE STRUGGLE WITH

INSECURITY: WE’RE COMPARING OUR BEHIN
D-T HE-SCENES TO EVERYONE ELSE’S
HIGHLIGHT REEL.”
—STEVEN FURTICK

ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION

It’s common for anxiety and depression to go hand in hand with self-
confidence issues. If you’ve already been diagnosed with an anxiety
disorder or depression and are working with a therapist, you could bring in
your workbook and perhaps go through it together. If you’re not sure
whether these issues might be affecting you, I’ve provided screening tools
and a list of other resources in the back of the book (see here ). It’s brave of
you to address your self-assurance stumbling blocks, and building
confidence will also help you lessen anxiety and depression.

Which of the contributing factors described in this section resonate the

most with you?
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What specific experiences in your life do you think had the biggest negative
effects on your self-confidence?
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The Benefits of Improving Confidence

Confidence is linked to almost every element involved in a happy and
fulfilling life. I’ll highlight a few of the benefits of self-confidence below,
and in the rest of the book, you’ll learn strategies to achieve them.

LESS FEAR AND ANXIETY

The more confident you become, the more you’ll be able to calm the voice
inside you that says, “I can’t do it.” You’ll be able to unhook from your
thoughts and take action in line with your values.
If you’ve suffered from low self-confidence, you’re probably familiar
with rumination—the tendency to mull over worries and perceived
mistakes, replaying them ad nauseam. Excessive rumination is linked to
both anxiety and depression, and it can make us withdraw from the world.
But by filling up your tank with confidence, or fuel for action, you’ll be
able to break the cycle of over-thinking and quiet your inner critic.
GREATER MOTIVATION

Building confidence means taking small steps that leave a lasting sense of
accomplishment. If you’ve ever learned a language, mastered a skill,
reached a fitness goal, or otherwise overcome setbacks to get to where you
wanted to be, you’re well on your way already.
You might be thinking, “Well, sure, I was proud of my A in honors
calculus back in high school, but what does that have to do with anything
now?” If you think back to a key accomplishment in your life, you’ll likely
find it took a lot of perseverance. If you could triumph through adversity
then, you can do it in other areas of your life where you feel self-doubt.
As your confidence grows, you’ll find yourself more driven to stretch
your abilities. “What-if” thoughts will still arise: “What if I fail?” “What if
I embarrass myself?” But with self-assurance, those thoughts will no longer
be paralyzing. Instead, you’ll be able to grin and act anyway, feeling
energized by your progress in pursuing goals that mean something to you.

MORE RESILIENCE

Confidence gives you the skills and coping methods to handle setbacks and
failure. Remember, self-confidence doesn’t mean you won’t sometimes fail.
But you’ll know you can handle challenges and not be crippled by them.
Even when things don’t turn out anywhere close to what you planned, you’ll
be able to avoid beating yourself up.
As you keep pushing yourself to try new things, you’ll start to truly
understand how failure and mistakes lead to growth. An acceptance that
failure is part of life will start to take root. Paradoxically, by being more
willing to fail, you’ll actually succeed more—because you’re not waiting
for everything to be 100 percent perfect before you act. Taking more shots
will mean making more of them.

IMPROVED RELATIONSHIPS

It might seem counterintuitive, but when you have more self-confidence,

you’re less focused on yourself. We’ve all been guilty of walking into a
room and thinking, “They’re all looking at me and judging me. They don’t
like me; they think I’m ignorant!” The truth is, people are wrapped up in
their own thoughts and worries. When you get out of your own head, you’ll
be able to genuinely engage with others.
You’ll enjoy your interactions more because you won’t be so worried
about the kind of impression you’re making, and you won’t be comparing
yourself to others. Your relaxed state will put others at ease as well, helping
you forge deeper connections.
Self-confidence can also breed deeper empathy. When you’re fully
present in the moment, you’re more likely to notice that your date seems to
be a little down, or that a friend in the corner of the party looks like she
needs a shoulder to cry on. When you’re not preoccupied with your own
self-doubt, you can be the person who reaches out to help others with their
problems.

STRONGER SENSE OF YOUR AUTHENTIC SELF

Finally, confidence roots you in who you really are. You’ll be able to accept
your weaknesses, knowing they don’t change your self-worth. You’ll also be
able to celebrate your strengths and use them more fully.
Your actions will be in line with your principles, giving you a greater
sense of purpose. You’ll know who you are and what you stand for. You’ll
have the skills to show up, stand up, and speak up. In other words, you’ll be
able to let your best self shine through.

The Self-Confidence Workbook: Make It

Your Own
Confidence is all about knowing yourself, and that holds true when it comes
to working through this book. Color in it, underline it, doodle in it—
whatever works best for you! If it would help to buy a notebook so you can
jot down your thoughts as you go along, that’s great. If you’d rather work
through the exercises out loud with a therapist, a spouse, or a trusted friend,
that works, too. It will be beneficial to read each chapter without skipping
any, but feel free to disregard advice that doesn’t apply to you.
Take note of information in this chapter that resonated with you the
most, and let it guide you through the rest of the book. If you find yourself
obsessively dwelling on negative thoughts, you might want to focus on
chapter 5 , which deals with improving faulty thinking patterns. If you don’t
spend a lot of time ruminating but are still not sure how to take steps toward
the goals that scare you the most, chapter 7 might hold the best tools for
you. The Self-Confidence Scale in the next section can also help you figure
out what to concentrate on.
Progress through the book at your own pace, and do the exercises in
whatever setting is most comfortable for you, whether that’s a quiet
neighborhood park or a room in your house where you can blast your
favorite music. Yes, this is a “work” book, but you can also play with it and
make it fun.

The Self-Confidence Scale

Now that you have a better understanding of what self-confidence is, what it
isn’t, and why it matters, let’s determine your starting point. Read each
statement below and highlight A if it is true for you most of the time, B if it
is true for you some of the time, and C if it is not usually true.

I have a realistic sense of my strengths and weaknesses. A B C

I am willing to take risks for something I believe in. A B C
I plan and prepare for new experiences. A B C
I have ways to cope with fear and doubt. A B C
I take time to remember my past successes. A B C
I recognize failure as a part of life. A B C
I can cope with unexpected changes. A B C
I am comfortable asking for help and support. A B C
I know what I value in life. A B C
My actions generally line up with my values. A B C
I don’t give up easily. A B C
I realize not everyone will like or approve of me. A B C
I have a sense of my inherent worth. A B C
I understand setbacks are normal and to be expected. A B C
I don’t beat up on myself when I’m going through a rough time. A B C
My thoughts don’t paralyze me when trying something new. A B C
 Here’s how to interpret your score:

Mostly A s: You’re doing a great job of not allowing obstacles to get in

your way of meeting valued goals. This book will help you learn new
skills to improve your confidence even more.
Mostly B s: You’re right in the middle, sometimes recognizing your
accomplishments and other times focusing on where you’re falling
short. Your answers indicate you may fall prey to common pitfalls that
undermine self-confidence. This book will help you identify those areas
so you can more consistently enjoy self-confidence.
Mostly C s: Your self-confidence is a little shaky, but that’s okay.
Remember, there is no one with total self-confidence all of the time.
The tools in this book will help you ease up on yourself, notice your
accomplishments, and find ways to handle setbacks. You’ll learn, step-
by-step, how to set goals that mean something to you, how to meet
those goals, and how to cope with fear along the way.

Use the space below to note any thoughts or feelings you might have
after taking this quiz. Take note of any particular items you’d like to focus
on as you move through the book. Remember to give yourself credit for
embarking on this journey.
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CONSIDER YOUR STRENGTHS

No matter how down you feel, remember to recognize your talents and good
qualities. Try making a list of your strengths and referring back to it when
you feel yourself focusing on your perceived flaws or mistakes.

Think back on compliments from other people. What have they told you
about yourself that you otherwise might not notice or acknowledge?
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Remember past accomplishments. It can be something other people

recognized, like being at the top of your class, or something only you know
about, like a quiet act of service to make life easier for someone else. List
any accomplishments that come to mind.
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Think about the qualities you try to cultivate. No one’s perfect, but if you’re
actively trying to be an honorable, good person, give yourself some credit
and list some of these qualities below.
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Chapter Takeaways
Now you have a clear vision of confidence: what it is, what it’s not, and how
attainable it is for anyone willing to pursue it. (If you’re interested, you can
learn a little more about yourself and participate in research on self-
confidence by taking the online Confidence Code Assessment at
http://theconfidencecode.com/confidence-quiz .)
The next chapter is all about where you’re going. You’ll be setting goals
for yourself and learning about the tools that will help you get there.

Action Items
Here are some specific actions you can take to implement the lessons and
ideas you learned in this chapter:

1. Write down a favorite confidence quote and put it somewhere you’ll

see it often.
2. Consider sharing with someone you trust that you’re reading this book.
I bet you’ll find you’re not alone in your desire for more confidence.
3. Do you have a photograph of a time you felt confident and successful?
It could be a graduation photo, a picture of you as a kid after you
learned to ride a bike, or anything else that resonates with you. Hang it
on your fridge or bathroom mirror, and reflect on the steps it took to
get to that point.
4. Watch a YouTube video of someone you admire who exudes
confidence.
5. Try taking a break from social media for a day or even a week. See
whether the urge to compare yourself with others starts to subside a
little.
 CHAPTER 2:

SETTING GOALS AND GETTING

STARTED

“THE SCARIEST MOMENT IS ALWAYS JUST

BEFORE YOU START.”
—STEPHEN KING

Nia had lacked self-confidence for so long, she wasn’t even sure what she
really wanted anymore.
She had been single for more than five years. Even though she’d
always imagined herself as a wife and mother, she had convinced herself
that maybe it just wasn’t going to happen. The fear of going on dates and
being rejected had become so strong that she had stopped trying
altogether.
Avoiding the stresses of dating felt rewarding in the short term: After
all, Nia didn’t have to experience the overwhelming fear of embarrassing
herself or somehow not measuring up. But when she envisioned a world in
which she had unlimited self-confidence, she knew immediately it would
include a romantic life of flirting, dating, and ultimately, building
nurturing relationships.
Nia decided to set small goals to expose herself to her fear. She would
make a profile on a dating app and ask her friends from church if they
knew anyone to set her up with. As she took these steps, her confidence
grew, and soon she found herself going on dates and even enjoying them.
Sometimes the dates were awkward, or just bad—and that was okay, too.
Nia knew that by pursuing her goals, she was starting to live the life she
really wanted.
 As you learned in chapter 1 , confidence is all about action. If taking
action in the face of fear, doubt, or lack of motivation were easy, our real
lives might look more like our wildest dreams. Fortunately, there are many
strategies you can use to increase your self-confidence, and you’ll get a
taste of them in this chapter.
First, you’ll think about what you really value and want in life: Where
do you hope confidence will take you? You’ll set goals to get you there.
Then I’ll walk you through the strategies you’ll be exploring in the rest
of the book. You’ll learn to examine and reframe your negative thoughts,
commit to taking positive actions, expose yourself to your fears in small
doses, and increase mindfulness to find a greater sense of calm.

The Importance of Goals

By now, you may have realized you’re feeling confident in some areas of
your life but not so confident in others. Whatever the case, you need goals,
or your efforts will lack focus and direction.
What do you want to accomplish? You might feel the answer is
obvious: “I want to be more self-confident.” Although this is a desirable
goal, it’s too general to serve as a helpful road map for action.
One way to think about your goals is to ask yourself some questions:

What opportunities have I turned down because I didn’t feel confident

enough?
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What opportunities would I pursue if I had more confidence?

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Are there activities I’ve avoided because of lack of confidence?

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Another way to think about lack of self-confidence is fear. Ask yourself,

“In what ways have I limited my life because of fear?”
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Now you’re a little more prepared to come up with some goals that are
specific, realistic, and consistent with your values.

SPECIFIC

Once you have a general aim in mind, it’s important to come up with goals
that paint a picture of what success will look like. These goals should be
measurable, so that you’ll know when you’re achieving them and when
you need more practice. Here’s an example:
Aim:
I want to be more socially confident at my new job.
Goals:
I will be less anxious when introduced to a coworker.
I will be able to make eye contact.
I won’t turn down invitations to have lunch with someone.
I will be able to carry on a brief conversation in the break room.
I will stop assuming I’m saying the wrong thing all the time.

REALISTIC

Goals also need to be realistic. For example, you can’t expect to give a
flawless speech or proceed through life never feeling nervous. Your goals
should not demand perfection, because that sets you up for failure.
That’s not to say you should give in to self-doubt. By all means, dream
big as you’re writing your goals—you’ll learn how to break them into
bite-size, doable pieces. But remember that you’re only human.
 Reality can also force us to change our goals as we go on. For instance,
a devastating injury could stop you from pursuing a job you really wanted
or force you to put off starting a family. Giving up on goals can be
incredibly painful. But nothing will be able to stop you from living your
values and making new goals that take into account your changed life
circumstances.

VALUES-DRIVEN

Values are the principles that give our lives meaning and allow us to
persevere through adversity. But often, our lives don’t perfectly align with
our values, particularly when a lack of self-confidence stands in the way.
Sometimes it takes reflection to know which values you really hold
closest to your heart. Here are some questions to help you get started.

What is important to you? Try to distinguish between what other people

think you should care about and what you truly value.
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What sort of person do you want to be at work? In your relationships? In

your community?
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If you could wave a magic wand and have your ideal life, what would it
look like?
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Now, review the list of commonly held values below. Highlight the
three values that resonate the most with you.
It might be hard to pick just three, and that’s okay. Some items on the
list could be combined—for instance, loyalty and openness might fold into
your core value of friendship. If you have to pick more than three, try to
keep your total below six so that your list doesn’t get too unwieldy.

Acceptance
Accomplishment
Altruism
Artistic Nature
Awareness
Beauty
Bravery
Calm
Carefulness
Commitment
Community
Compassion
Confidence
Contentment
Connection
Creativity
Curiosity
Dependability
Dignity
Discipline
Empathy
Energy
Enthusiasm
Equality
Ethicality
Excellence
Excitement
Expressive
Fairness
Faith
Family
Freedom
Friendship
Generosity
Gratitude
Growth
Happiness
Harmony
Health
Honesty
Humility
Humor
Individuality
Intuitiveness
Joy
Justice
Kindness
Knowledge
Leadership
Learning
Love
Loyalty
Mastery
Maturity
Meaning
Mindfulness
Nature
Openness
Optimism
Originality
Patience
Peace
Persistence
Personal Growth
Play
Practicality
Productivity
Reason
Reliability
Resourcefulness
Risk
 Security
Service
Silence
Simplicity
Skillfulness
Spirituality
Spontaneity
Stability
Strength
Thoughtfulness
Understanding
Uniqueness
Trustworthiness
Truth
Welcoming Spirit
Wisdom
Once you’ve chosen your top three core values, pick one and spend
about 10 minutes writing about what it means to you. Explore why that
value is important to you and how you express it in your everyday life.
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MINI CONFIDENCE BOOSTERS

This book’s goal is, of course, to help you build your self-confidence
over the long term. But that doesn’t mean you can’t make use of
quick “hype-up” strategies ahead of a big day. Here are some ideas.
A favorite outfit: If you have an outfit that makes you feel like a
million bucks, by all means, wear it when you’re facing your biggest
confidence challenges. Oddly, this works even if you’re going into a
phone interview where no one will see you.
A playlist: Listening to your favorite confidence-boosting anthems
can be a big help as you’re going through your morning routine on a
stressful day. It’s a bonus if they make you want to dance around your
bathroom and sing along, working through those nerves!
 A reward: If you’re trying to push yourself to do something scary, it
can help to promise yourself a little reward: “If I ask José on a date,
I’ll buy myself an ice cream cone afterward.” If you tie the reward to
your effort rather than the outcome, it will remind you that action
itself is more important than success.
A role model: Picture someone you know who comes off as
confident but not arrogant or pushy. You’ll often find you can emulate
that person’s fearlessness for a moment.
A confidence buddy: Telling a friend ahead of time that you’re
committing to taking a certain step will help ensure that you do it. I’ll
talk more about this strategy later in the book.

Setting Your Goals

Keeping your core values top of mind is essential to setting meaningful
goals, as I saw with one of my clients years ago.
Jamal came to me for general anxiety concerns. He tended to second-
guess himself a lot and become caught up in a worry cycle. He also didn’t
have a lot of confidence in his abilities, particularly at work.
During one session, Jamal told me that he had been offered a
promotion. The new role would involve leading small teams of people and
occasionally speaking to large groups. It would also involve some travel.
Initially, I assumed that Jamal would want the position if not for his
insecurities. After discussing the requirements of the new job with me,
Jamal agreed that with some encouragement and practice, he would be
able to fulfill the duties. However, he also brought up that the new position
would require many more hours of working, and he’d be out of town more
often.
He had a family to consider: his wife, their five-year-old, and a new
baby. Although Jamal certainly valued career advancement, spending time
with his family was actually more important. Jamal ended up turning down
the promotion, but not out of fear and insecurity. He turned it down
because he was rooted in the knowledge that he was acting in line with his
values.
 No one can tell you what is most important to you. Sure, our culture
will say that having a better job, a bigger house, and a fancier car is what
we need to make us happy. It takes a lot of strength and conviction to not
just go along with societal expectations. Self-confidence doesn’t always
look like the “big” move. It can be the confidence to say, “No, this
opportunity is not right for me at this time.”

“WHAT YOU GET BY REACHING YOUR GOALS

IS NOT NEARLY SO IMPORTANT AS WHAT
YOU BE COME BY REACHING THEM.”
—ZIG ZIGLAR

Now it’s your turn. Below are some categories in which you might
want to consider self-confidence goals. Take some time to think about
them and make notes in the space provided.
I don’t want you to become overwhelmed. You might have goals in
each of the areas listed, or you might want to select just one area to work
on for now. Follow the steps in this book and then come back to the other
areas. What you’ll likely find is that when you gain confidence in one
area, it will spill over to the others.

RELATIONSHIPS

If you had the confidence to fully live your values in your relationships
with family and friends, what would you be doing? Would you approach
conflict differently? Would you set stronger boundaries? What about your
love life—what would you do if you had unlimited confidence? Set some
specific, realistic, and values-driven goals below.
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PARENTING
If you had the confidence to fully live your values as a parent, what would
you be doing? Would you participate differently in your children’s lives or
model differently for them? Would you take a different approach to
discipline? Set some specific, realistic, and values-driven goals below.
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FAMILY

If you had the confidence to fully live your values in your relationships
with your parents, siblings, and other family members, what would you be
doing? Set some specific, realistic, and values-driven goals below.
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WORK

If you had the confidence to fully live your values in your career, what
kind of work would you be doing? What would your role be within an
organization? How would you relate to coworkers? What kinds of
opportunities would you accept? Set some specific, realistic, and values-
driven goals below.
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COMMUNITY

If you had the confidence to fully live your values in your community,
what would you be doing? What causes or organizations would you be
involved in, and what would your role be? How would you connect with
others and make a difference in the ways that are most meaningful to you?
Set some specific, realistic, and values-driven goals below.
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HEALTH

If you had the confidence to fully live your values when it comes to your
physical and mental well-being, what would you be doing? Would you join
a gym or exercise class, regardless of what people might think? Would you
get back to an old hobby or activity that always helped you deal with
stress, even if maybe you aren’t as “good” at it anymore? Set some
specific, realistic, and values-driven goals below.
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LIFE ENJOYMENT

Are there other ways in which you’re holding yourself back from enjoying
life because of a lack of self-confidence? For instance, maybe you avoid
going to the beach because you don’t like how you look in a swimsuit, or
you don’t celebrate your own birthday because you don’t want to draw
attention to yourself. If there are things you’d genuinely like to do but
haven’t found the confidence for, write them in the form of specific,
realistic, and values-driven goals below.
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WHY IT WORKS
 The approaches in this book have been shown to work in clinical
settings—but they’re also well suited to learning on your own.

All of these therapies share common What this means for you:
characteristics:

Supported by research You know it works

Focused on the here-and-now No blaming your parents

Often organized into steps Easy to understand

Designed for everyday situations Applies to your life

Practical skills Simple to put into practice

Typically short-term focus Quicker results

Tools for the Journey

Now that you’ve set some goals for yourself, let’s talk about the tools
you’ll be using to get there. The concepts and exercises detailed in this
book are based on evidence-based therapies, meaning they’ve been shown
to work in rigorous research studies. Although the types of therapy
described below have some differences, they complement each other
nicely. Therapists often combine strategies from these various approaches,
and tools from different therapies will be woven throughout this book.
It’s possible that not every single strategy will work for you, and that’s
okay. Some people will naturally embrace and get more out of one type of
treatment over another. That’s why I’m detailing a wide range of strategies
so you can tailor a plan that works for you.

COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY (CBT)

If you’ve read other psychology or self-help books, you’ve likely heard of

CBT, as it’s one of the most widely used types of treatment for depression,
anxiety, and many other conditions. Psychologist Albert Ellis was one of
the first to devise therapeutic techniques aimed at changing thoughts that
lead to unnecessary distress. Psychiatrist Aaron Beck also showed how the
roots of depression can often be identified as irrational thoughts. These
two men are often cited as the fathers of cognitive therapy, now known as
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
Let’s look at one principle of CBT in action. Imagine you’re walking
down the street and you see someone on the other side walking toward
you. You get a little closer and recognize the person as someone you know
from your Zumba class. You look up, smile, wave, and shout, “Hi!” The
other person keeps walking and doesn’t acknowledge you. There are many
ways you could interpret this situation. What would you say to yourself?
Highlight A , B , or C .

A She must not like me. I’m such a loser.

B She must not have seen me.
C She’s so stuck up. I can’t believe she didn’t say hi.

Now, imagine how you’d feel in each case.

If you thought to yourself, “She must not like me,” you’d likely feel
sad, embarrassed, or something along those lines.
If you thought to yourself, “She must not have seen me,” you’d likely
feel neutral, or maybe simply a little disappointed.
If you circled C , you might feel angry.
Notice that the event is the same. The only thing that has changed is
your interpretation of the situation, or what you’re saying to yourself. The
principle behind CBT is that self-talk matters.
Now think about a time you came out of a situation feeling less
confident, and fill out the diagram below.
 So what does this have to do with confidence? Low self-confidence is
often based upon unhelpful or untrue interpretations of a situation. If you
believe your Zumba classmate didn’t wave at you because you’re a loser,
you’re much less likely to risk saying hi or starting a conversation with
her in the future. That’s why CBT, a set of methods to identify such
thoughts and reframe them, is often so useful in building self-assurance.
In chapter 5 , you’ll learn to notice distorted thinking, such as: “I
always make a fool of myself when I try to speak up in a meeting.” Once
you can catch yourself having those thoughts, you can break them down:
Does this thought really reflect reality? Is it effective in getting you closer
to your goals? Then, in chapter 6 , you’ll learn how your thoughts combine
and interact to form belief systems. Everyone has these core belief
systems, but we’re often not aware of the power they can exert on our
behavior. I’ll provide exercises to help you bring both your thoughts and
beliefs out into the light, so they won’t keep you from reaching your self-
confidence goals.
You’ll learn to envision likelier outcomes and realize that even in the
worst-case scenario, you’d be able to dust yourself off and move on.
You’ll also begin to give yourself more credit for the positive things you
do instead of beating yourself up over perceived mistakes. These mind-set
changes are meant to spur you ahead to action, the cornerstone of
confidence.

ACCEPTANCE AND COMMITMENT THERAPY (ACT)

ACT (pronounced like the word act ) was developed in 1986 by Steven C.
Hayes, a professor in the psychology department at the University of
Nevada. Hayes took a somewhat controversial view, at least in terms of
mainstream psychology at the time, asserting that suffering is an
inevitable and essential part of being human. He argued that accepting this
suffering, rather than running from it, was a more effective way to build a
meaningful life.
He also took a different view of thoughts than his CBT colleagues.
Recall that in CBT you aim to notice your negative thoughts so that you
can replace them with more helpful ones. ACT doesn’t place as much
emphasis on the content of your thoughts. At the heart of ACT is the idea
that you can learn to live with even unpleasant thoughts, as long as you
don’t give them power over your actions.
ACT teaches you not to avoid worry, fear, or doubt, because negative
feelings are just a natural part of life. Struggling against your anxiety can
often make it worse, as you’ll recognize if you’ve ever thought, “Why am
I so nervous? What’s the matter with me?”
 When you find yourself thinking, “I can’t do this,” or “This is going to
be a disaster,” you can learn to notice the thought and let it pass you by
without deciding it’s the gospel truth. Detaching from your negative
thoughts helps prevent rumination, which is linked to anxiety and
depression, and lessens the urge to run from discomfort by indulging in
harmful behaviors such as binge drinking or overeating.
You may not be able to evict your inner critic from your mind, but you
can learn to tune out its relentless negativity and move forward—or
“act”—with confidence.

ACT has a lot to offer, and I’ll be making use of many of its
components throughout the book. Remember, too, how I said these schools
of therapy can complement each other. Although anxiety and “negative”
thinking are not dangerous, I don’t see anything wrong with learning some
ways to be more comfortable. In chapter 4 , I’ll show you some techniques
to calm your body, and in chapter 5 , I’ll show you some ways to calm
your mind. Your anxiety won’t completely go away, but it will likely
lessen over time.

“STAY AFRAID, BUT DO IT ANYWAY. WHAT’S

IMPORTANT IS THE ACT ION. YOU DON’T
HAVE TO WAIT TO BE CONFIDEN T. JUST DO IT
AND EVENTUALLY THE CONFIDENCE WILL
FOLLOW.”
—CARRIE FISHER
EXPOSURE THERAPY

Exposure therapy sometimes falls under the umbrella of CBT, as it is a

behavioral therapy aimed at helping people overcome anxiety and fear.
You may have heard about the work of psychologist Edna Foa, who
uses exposure therapy to treat post-traumatic stress disorder. In 2010, Time
named her one of the most influential people in the world. Foa helps
people identify thoughts and situations that trigger the most fear and then
gently exposes sufferers to them. She and others have shown that exposure
therapy works well in many situations, from spider phobias to stage fright
—and it can help you develop your confidence, too.
You already know avoiding all forms of discomfort is not a path to a
happy, fulfilling life. But that doesn’t mean you’re itching to step out your
front door and go give a public speech, ask someone on a date, or do
whatever scares you the most.
Don’t worry—I’m not going to ask you to dive into the deep end and
learn to swim! Research shows that being forced to face a big fear all at
once only leaves you traumatized, swearing you’ll never try again.
Exposure therapy is more like dipping your toes in the water. You start
with a tiny first step that scares you just a little bit, getting used to the fear
and realizing you’re capable of handling it. Then you build up gradually to
bigger and bigger steps, until you’re finally swimming in the pool.
Some exposure therapy is done in real life. For example, I took a client
who was afraid of heights to a nearby building for several sessions,
working our way up the floors until she was comfortable standing close to
a railing many stories up. Other times, imagining the situation is enough
to practice grappling with the fear.
The key is repetition; you can’t try facing your fear once and then wait
a year and try again. Here’s an example of how Kurt, who feels he doesn’t
have the confidence to attend networking events in his industry, might use
exposure therapy to overcome that fear.

Week 1: Kurt will go to a networking event with someone he already

knows and stay just 30 minutes.
Week 2: He will attend an event with someone he knows and introduce
himself to at least one new person.
 Week 3: Kurt will go to an event with someone he knows and
introduce himself to three new people.
Week 4: Kurt will go to an event by himself, greet everyone he’s met
before, and introduce himself to three new people.
Week 5: He will go to an event by himself, introduce himself to five
new people, and follow up with one of them via email the next day to
set up a one-on-one coffee meeting.

I’ll talk more about how to make your own exposure goals in chapter 7
. For now, think about something you usually avoid. What is a small step
you could take to move you in the desired direction? Now, try to break that
step into an even smaller step. I want you to get in the habit of thinking in
baby steps. You’ll be much more likely to follow through if it doesn’t
seem that far out of your norm.
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MINDFULNESS-BASED THERAPIES

The final type of therapeutic approach I’ll draw from is that of

mindfulness-based therapies. Adding mindfulness into the mix of
cognitive and behavioral approaches has gained wide acceptance and
popularity over the past decade. But even as early as the 1970s, Jon Kabat-
Zinn had integrated principles of mindfulness into his work with medical
patients. He is the founder of the mindfulness-based stress reduction
program (MBSR), which has helped millions of people with heart disease,
chronic pain, and other health problems achieve improvement in
symptoms and greater wellness overall. Now MBSR is used in nonmedical
settings, such as businesses, and there are even MBSR programs for
adolescents. In the late 1980s, psychologist Marsha Linehan created
dialectical behavior therapy, which added the concept of acceptance to
mindfulness. (You’ll learn about acceptance in chapter 3 .)
So what is mindfulness? Mindfulness is intentionally paying attention
to the present moment with an attitude of openness and curiosity. There’s
also a spirit of nonjudgment to this process. I know this may sound
abstract at this point. Don’t worry. It’s not as “woo woo” as it might sound,
and later, I’ll break it down into easy steps.
One benefit of mindfulness is that it’s a helpful way of disconnecting
from the onslaught of negativity from your inner critic by reconnecting
with the world around you. Although our minds will always tend to draw
us into worries and what-ifs, it’s possible to train yourself to come back to
Earth when you find yourself getting sucked into a ruminative spiral.
In chapter 4 , I’ll walk you through mindfulness exercises that will
help lower your anxiety levels, helping you to face your biggest
confidence challenges. For now, here’s one of the simplest ways to start:
Focus on your breath.

• Notice the rhythm and sensation of your breathing. If you’re like 99.9
percent of people, your mind will stray. You’ll start thinking about
your to-do list, wondering if you’re doing this right, thinking about
what you’re going to have for lunch . . . All of that is completely
normal and does not mean you’re not doing it properly.
• When you notice that your mind has strayed, gently bring your focus
back to the breath. The key is to be gentle. You don’t say, “I’m so bad
at this.” Just think, “Oh, there goes my mind wandering. That’s okay.
I’ll just return my attention to the breath.”
• After a few minutes of practice, you’ll likely find that you’re a little
calmer and less distracted.

TRY, TRY AGAIN

Failure is a fact of life—and a useful one, too. If you cruise through
life avoiding risks, you’ll likely never learn or grow in any
meaningful way. Even the most confident people experience self-
doubt, but what matters is that they forge ahead anyway, not allowing
their fear to increase through inaction.
When what you’re aiming for is progress, it’s easy to forget that
failure is not pushing you backward. Mistakes don’t halt your
momentum; they help you figure out a better path.
As you try to build self-confidence, you’re going to have some
days when things just don’t go right. Maybe you’ll try to speak up in
 a meeting, but your thoughts will come out jumbled and cause an
awkward pause. Or maybe you’ll try to set firmer rules with your
children, and they’ll stick out their tongues and keep misbehaving.
The most important thing is to get back on the proverbial horse and
try again.
Try this the next time you’re facing a failure: Ask yourself, What
did I do that worked? What did I do that didn’t work? What can I do
differently next time? If you’re stuck, seek feedback from someone
you trust about how to improve.
Getting comfortable with failure is how you ultimately let go of
perfectionism, get messy, and make mistakes, until eventually you
find a way that works. There’s no better feeling than knowing that
you earned success through your own hard work. That’s confidence.

Chapter Takeaways
Now you know the science. Scores of people have improved their self-
confidence using the methods you’re about to learn in part 2 . You might
still be a little wary, but I hope you’re also willing to give it a try. When
you feel scared or intimidated, you can always come back to the values
and goals you listed and remind yourself that the efforts you’re making are
leading you to a better, fuller life. In the next part of the book, you’ll start
practicing these strategies, starting with accepting yourself.

ACTION ITEMS

Here are some specific actions you can take to implement the lessons and
ideas you learned in this chapter:

1. In the coming days, take note of any events that put a dent in your
confidence, and write down what thoughts you had interpreting those
events. (You can carry around a notebook or keep a note in your
smartphone for this exercise.)
2. Practice noticing your breathing for a few minutes each day without
trying to change anything. Where do you feel the breath? Do you feel
 the air at your nostrils? Do you notice the movement of your chest
and abdomen?
3. Pick a “mini confidence booster” and try it out.
4. Watch Joe Kowan’s charming TED Talk, “How I Beat Stage Fright.”
5. Write down your top three values on a slip of paper and put it in a
place you’ll see it every day.
 PART 2

THE STRATEGIES

ow that you have a clear vision of what you would do with more self-
N confidence, let’s talk about how to get there. Part 2 will give you
practical, accessible strategies for building self-confidence across
different areas of your life.
Using tools from the therapies you learned about in part 1 , you’ll start
learning to diminish your anxiety around intimidating situations. You’ll
practice accepting yourself and what’s going on in your life rather than
fighting against or avoiding unpleasant feelings. You’ll get in the habit of
speaking to yourself with self-compassion, recognizing what went right
instead of beating yourself up for every little mistake.
Instead of trying to shrink or disappear when you’re nervous, you’ll
learn to breathe deeply, take up space, and take your time. Mindfulness
techniques will help you stop the runaway train of rumination and see the
world that’s right in front of you. You’ll also learn to recognize unhelpful
thought patterns and core beliefs, and redirect yourself toward more useful
ones. You’ll get comfortable with your inner critic as a passenger in your
head, noticing your inevitable moments of self-doubt but not letting them
change your course of action.
Most importantly, you’ll take steps toward your goals, leaving your
mind and stepping out into the real world, where confidence takes root. If
you’re starting to worry or wondering if any of this will really help you,
that’s normal. All I ask is that you give it a try—make a good-faith effort
here, and you’ll see that it pays dividends. I’ll be cheering you along every
step of the way.
 CHAPTER 3

PRACTICE ACCEPTANCE

“THE CURIOUS PARADOX IS THAT WHEN I

ACCEPT MYSELF JUST AS I AM, THEN I CAN
CHANGE.”
—CARL ROGERS

At first, acceptance is a difficult concept to grasp. After all, you bought

this book because you want to change. Hearing that you should practice
acceptance might make you think you’re being told to settle for the way
things are and not bother to try to improve them. But once you understand
what acceptance really means, it will make a huge difference in how you
proceed—not only in your quest for more confidence but for your life in
general.
The best way to understand acceptance is to think about an equation
often cited in the psychology world: Suffering = Pain X Resistance.
Imagine you’re stuck in a traffic jam and you’re going to be late for an
important meeting. The pain is real: You hate being late, and there’s
nothing you can do about it. The resistance part kicks in when your self-
talk starts: “I shouldn’t be caught in traffic. This is horrible. What is going
on? Is there an accident up ahead?” Your resistance amplifies the pain and
creates the suffering.
Once you’re at the meeting, you’re about to give a brief project update
and your stomach starts to churn. Your mind starts up: “I can’t believe this
is happening again. Why can’t I be like normal people and just be able to
participate in a simple meeting without getting so anxious?” Again, the
pain is the experience of your stomach hurting. Resisting it is what makes
you panicked, unfocused, and more likely to make mistakes during the
presentation.
We often can’t control the pain part of the equation. Life happens.
What we can usually control is our reaction to it. By not piling on to the
pain with resistance, we’ll have less suffering.
The antidote to resistance is acceptance.

• Acceptance is a willingness to see reality without judgment.

• Acceptance does not equal approval.
• Acceptance does not mean you won’t take appropriate action.
• Acceptance isn’t putting up with misery.
• Acceptance is the starting point for change.

The first step toward developing lasting self-confidence is to practice

acceptance—of your strengths, your weaknesses, and yourself. I’ll show
you how.

YOU DON’T NEED TO BE FIXED

I’ve been into self-improvement my whole life. At age 10, I was
reading a copy of The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent
Peale that I found on my grandmother’s bookshelf. Later, I spent
hours browsing the self-help section at bookstores and libraries,
trying to find that one book that would make me feel “good enough.”
Before Pinterest, I made my own notebooks of inspirational quotes. I
started a blog called The Self-Compassion Project , only to realize
that self-compassion is not a project; it’s a practice and a process.
It took me many decades to learn I am not a broken human being;
I am fine just as I am. Sure, I set goals and try to learn and grow in
areas that I value. But now, I do so from a position of self-acceptance
and a sense of worthiness that doesn’t come from external sources.
So it’s a bit paradoxical for me to be writing this workbook. I
want to (and will) offer you strategies and tools that I know truly
work to build confidence. As you learned in chapter 1 , self-
confidence offers many benefits. But I also want to balance this with
my deep belief that you are not a problem to be solved, and you
 certainly don’t need to be “fixed.” My hope is that by the end of this
book, you’ll share my belief.

Revisit Your Goals

Now that you understand what acceptance is, think about how it applies to
your own life. Specifically, refer back to the goals you set in the previous
chapter and write down a few thoughts about how learning to practice
acceptance might help you achieve them. For instance, maybe you’ve
recently experienced a setback to your confidence, such as losing your job.
It’s understandable that you’d spend time mulling over the pain of what
happened. But by accepting the situation as best you can, you can turn
your attention to seeking new opportunities.
Take a moment to reflect on how acceptance might help you pursue
your goals.
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Accept Your Strengths

Lydia finds herself greeting even her biggest blessings in life with the
same troubling thought: “What’s the catch?” When she wins a big contest
in her industry, she thinks, “Well, there must not have been many entries
this year.” When a man she likes asks her on a date, she works herself into
a frenzy—she’s sure he’s made a mistake, and she’ll soon be revealed as
the big dork she is. When someone gives her a compliment, she always
deflects, giving the credit to somebody else.

If you’ve battled low self-confidence, Lydia might sound a lot like

you. Resistance doesn’t come only when we face pain in life. Many of us
resist compliments and good fortune, too, because we just don’t think we
deserve them. Women in particular are often averse to acknowledging
their strengths, believing they’ll be guilty of braggadocio or seem
egotistical if they do.
But accepting your strengths isn’t about building yourself up in
comparison to others. You don’t need to tell yourself you’re the best
salesperson, parent, or point guard in the local recreational basketball
league. Instead, you’re trying to reduce the suffering in your life by
decreasing resistance.
When you’ve worked hard, give yourself credit. When you do a good
job or try something new, let yourself feel some pride. Accepting your
strengths helps you keep your weaknesses in perspective, one of the keys
to walking through the world with confidence.

IDENTIFY YOUR STRENGTHS

To get started, jot down some notes responding to the prompts in the
following worksheet.

Recognizing Strengths

Compliments I’ve received:

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Challenges I’ve overcome:

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An important role I’ve fulfilled:

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An important task I’ve tackled:

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Skills I enjoy using regardless of the task:

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A time I’ve helped someone else:

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When you’re done, read over what you’ve written and try to notice themes.

List three or more of your strengths below.

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WHY WE FIGHT ACCEPTING OUR STRENGTHS

Many people are brought up to believe that accepting our strengths means
being prideful. We don’t want to boast or come off to others as “holier-
than-thou.” Maybe you know there’s something you’re good at, but you
truly don’t think it’s a big deal, often thinking that anyone could do it if
they really tried.
There are other reasons you might bristle at the idea of noticing your
own strong points. “If I tell myself I’m already doing well, I’ll think it’s
okay to rest on my laurels,” you might think. “I won’t push myself to keep
getting better.” Or maybe it’s hard for you to recognize your strengths as
valuable because they don’t fit into the norms of the world you’re in. For
instance, maybe you work in a dog-eat-dog corporate environment and
don’t see your patience and listening skills as useful—after all, you don’t
hear many colleagues being praised for their quiet fortitude.
All of this is natural. I’m not asking you to hold a parade for yourself,
proclaiming that you’re the best, or to tell yourself you’re perfect and
could never improve. Remember, confidence isn’t the same as arrogance.
It’s the knowledge that you can continue to act in line with your values, no
matter what life throws at you. Most of the time, that knowledge is
something you can carry with you without telling anyone else, “Hey, here’s
what makes me so great.” But sometimes you will have to advocate for
yourself to reach valued goals, such as earning a promotion, and you can’t
do that without accepting your strengths.

CELEBRATE YOUR STRENGTHS

It’s easy to feel like you’re never doing enough. When you start comparing
yourself to others, you might worry you’re not spending enough time with
your kids, staying healthy enough, or climbing the career ladder enough.
Enough with “enough”! It’s important to take time to celebrate everything
you’re doing right. This could mean unwinding with a significant other
and trading stories of the day’s small victories, or it could mean keeping a
journal where you give yourself credit for the steps you took toward your
goals.
It’s also okay to bask in your accomplishments, even if it’s just for an
instant. If you’re someone who struggles to accept others’ kind words,
practice saying a simple “thank you” the next time someone pays you a
compliment. Not only will you feel better, but you’ll make others feel
good, too, by not dismissing them when they make an effort to recognize
your strengths.
Accept Your Weaknesses and Imperfections
Everyone has weaknesses. They fall into different categories: There are
weaknesses that have nothing to do with what matters to you in life, and
others that do. There are weaknesses that stem from a lack of information
or training, and there are weaknesses that stem from a lack of practice. To
an extent, some weaknesses are attributable to your temperament or
natural talents. What matters the most in all of these cases is how you play
the hand you were dealt.
As you now know, resistance increases your suffering. If you avoid
public speaking because you’re terrible at it, even though it’s part of a
valued goal, your short-term relief is costing you the long-term
satisfaction of growth and advancement. Facing the possibility of failure
can be petrifying, and you might feel there’s no point in trying to improve.
But accepting the weakness can help make it feel less like a shameful flaw
and more of an opportunity to learn and stretch yourself.
You can probably think of many weaknesses you have that really don’t
matter very much in terms of living your values—but for some reason,
you’re still bothered by them. In those situations, letting go of the shame
and owning the fact that you’re not perfect can be quite freeing. If you
admit your weaknesses, you might be surprised how patient and helpful
people can become. For instance, say you’re a passionate and
knowledgeable teacher, but sometimes you struggle with the technology
you need to run your class. If you admit you need help, maybe with some
self-deprecating humor, your students will probably step up and get things
running in no time.

IDENTIFYING YOUR CHALLENGES

To get started, jot down some notes following the prompts in the
worksheet below.
Recognizing Challenges

Weaknesses I’m aware of:

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What’s most likely to make me give up?

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What trips me up time and time again?

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What keeps me from moving forward?

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Feedback I’ve received that may indicate a weakness:

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What roles do I avoid?

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When you’re done, read over what you’ve written and try to notice themes.

List three or more of your challenges or weaknesses below.

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ALLOW FOR VULNERABILITY

“IMPERFECTIONS ARE NOT INADEQUACIES;

THEY ARE REMINDERS THAT WE’RE ALL IN
THIS TOGETHER.”
—BRENÉ BROWN

One of the hardest things about accepting your weaknesses is being okay
with the idea that other people might see them. Sometimes we live in fear
that if others really saw us—our struggles, our mistakes, our failures—
they would reject us altogether.
But research shows the opposite is true. Vulnerability is how you
connect to others. When people see that you’re worried, scared, messy, or
flawed, they tend to feel great relief and let you know that they are, too.
Being comfortable with imperfection doesn’t mean you have to reveal
every personal challenge to everyone in your life. But if you perceive a
flaw in yourself that causes you great shame, consider sharing it with
someone you trust. You’ll likely find that the ability to live your life with
authenticity takes a huge weight off your shoulders and brings you closer
to those around you.
ADOPT A GROWTH MIND-SET

Read each statement and highlight the letter for the one that resonates
most.

A Either I’m good at something or I’m not.

B I can learn to do something if I want to.

A I tend to take feedback personally.

B I tend to take feedback as information about how to improve.

A When things aren’t going well, I throw in the towel.

B When things aren’t going well, I see it as a challenge.

A I stick to what I know.

B I’m open to learning new things.

If you answered mostly A s, you likely have what psychologist Carol

Dweck terms a fixed mind-set . You see your traits and capabilities as more
or less predetermined and set in stone. You’ll hear people referring to
fixed mind-sets in casual conversation—for example: “She is a natural
comedian.” If you answered mostly B s, you have what Dweck calls a
growth mind-set . You believe that effort and attitude play an important
role in what you can accomplish.
If you identify yourself as having a fixed mind-set, don’t worry. Many
of us start out that way. But fortunately, even your mind-set toward change
can change! Simply learning about these mind-sets can often be enough to
nudge you to risk trying new things.
Look back over your challenge areas. Is there anything you might be
able to learn more about through research, speaking to someone, or taking
a class? Let yourself mull it over without feeling pressure to do anything
just yet.
Also, tune in to your self-talk. You can transform a fixed mind-set into
a growth mind-set with a turn of phrase. For example:

A fixed mind-set says, “I’m not very good at handling conflict.”

A growth mind-set says, “I haven’t been very good at handling conflict
up to this point .”
 Adding the simple phrase “up to this point” or “yet” leaves room for
the possibility of change.

Fixed mind-set = Less learning

Growth mind-set = Lifelong learning

BRAIN SCIENCE 101

Our brains evolved with the primary goal of keeping us safe. In

prehistoric times, this meant keeping up with the pack. Veering off by
ourselves meant certain death. We’re wired to notice how we differ
from others and to adjust our behavior accordingly.
What this means: It’s natural that we worry what others think
about us. Comparisons are normal, although not often helpful.
Deep within our brain lies a complex fear network. We’re
programmed to register fear—and to act on it. This is the fight-or-
flight response. Nature’s biggest concern is our safety and survival,
not whether we’re enjoying ourselves in the process.
What this means: We’re more likely to focus on negative aspects
of ourselves and our situations. We must learn to consciously
override the “negativity bias” of the brain.
Our bodies also have a mammalian part of the brain, which, when
activated, leads to a “tend-and-befriend” response. For example,
mammals’ young are designed to attach closely with the mother to
stay safe. In addition, mammals respond to a warm, soft touch and a
soothing voice.
What this means: By tapping into this part of the brain, you’re
likely to experience less stress, both emotionally and physically.
You’ll learn how to do that later in this chapter.

Forgive Yourself
You might have turned to this book because you used to have self-
confidence, but now it’s gone. Maybe you suffered a big setback or failed
spectacularly at something that was really important to you, and it’s
changed your whole sense of self-worth and zapped your willingness to
try.
Or maybe not—maybe a lack of self-confidence has plagued you your
whole life, and you just don’t see yourself as likely to succeed. No matter
where you’re starting your self-confidence journey, you’re going to mess
up and you’re going to be rejected along the way. We all are! Confidence
requires action, and inevitably, some of your actions are going to flop.
What you need to do then is forgive yourself.

GUILT VERSUS SHAME

The first step toward learning to forgive yourself is understanding the

difference between guilt and shame. Guilt can be a useful emotion when
you’ve done something that hurt someone else. You can look at what you
did and say, “This doesn’t match up with who I want to be.” You can
apologize, make it right, and act differently in the future.
Shame stems from a different kind of self-talk. Whereas guilt comes
with a growth mind-set (“I did something bad, but I can do better”), shame
is an emotional manifestation of a fixed mind-set. Shame says, “This is
who I am.”
Guilt still feels awful, but it usually comes with acceptance: You know
you messed up, and you’re going to own it and try to change. Shame, on
the other hand, usually leads to resistance. You might lie, run away, blame
someone, have an outburst, or otherwise try to get away from facing the
situation. Because shame ties up our actions with our self-worth, we fear
that when someone sees our shame, they’ll know we’re broken,
inadequate, or “bad.”
Everyone feels shame. Many of us have voices in our minds that
shame us by echoing messages we heard as kids, and we don’t even realize
that no one is keeping those messages playing except us. It’s time to let go
of that self-talk and realize that if you’re flawed, struggling, or hurting,
you’re just part of the human club. Nothing about your appearance, your
parenting, your career success, or anything else could cost you your
membership and make you unworthy of love.

WE ALL MAKE MISTAKES

Forgiving yourself for your flaws isn’t just a one-time thing. It’s
something you have to practice time and time again, because mistakes will
happen!
Even when you plan carefully, the outside world can throw curveballs
your way. It’s only natural that sometimes you’ll goof. We often believe
we have more control over our lives than we truly do; in reality, a change
in the weather, a mood swing, or someone’s rude comment can throw us
off our game. If you’re someone who tends to shy away from taking action
because you’re afraid of messing up, I’ll give you some tools to address
perfectionism in chapters 5 and 6 .
Accepting the fact that you’ll make mistakes doesn’t mean you stop
holding yourself accountable. Instead, it clears up your mind to take
meaningful action. If you hurt someone with your mistake, that means
apologizing and making amends. If you didn’t, it means examining what
efforts you made that didn’t quite work and seeking feedback on how to do
better next time. When you’re not spending days obsessing over what you
did wrong, you’re also more likely to find creative or innovative solutions
to a problem. But most importantly, you’ll feel more peace.

Practice Self-Compassion
Aikira couldn’t get her six-month-old to sleep through the night, and
during the day, the baby was so fussy it was hard to go out in public.
Although she was exhausted, she forced herself to go to the Parents as
Teachers drop-in center one morning. She knew that socialization was
important, even for infants, and her husband told her she’d feel better if
she got out of the house more. Once there, she tried to mingle with the
other parents. She overheard them talking about what parenting books
they’d been reading and the latest milestones their babies had achieved.
Aikira went home feeling worse than before. She could barely get the
laundry done, much less read the latest parenting books. When her
husband got home that evening, she fell into a heap, crying, “I’m just a
terrible mother.”

What do you think Aikira needs?

A A good night’s sleep.

B To read up on child development.
C A big dose of self-compassion.

If you answered A and C , you’re right. In this section, you’ll learn

how self-compassion can step in at your darkest moments, giving you a
powerful tool to alleviate painful emotions and situations.

THREE COMPONENTS OF SELF-COMPASSION

Kristin Neff, PhD, one of the pioneers in the field of self-compassion

research, has found that there are three important components to self-
compassion. The first is mindfulness: simply being aware that you’re
hurting and in need of attention. The second is kindness: providing
yourself the same comfort and encouragement that you would a good
friend or a small child. And finally, self-compassion involves a realization
that you’re not alone; many other people have had similar experiences.
This isn’t to minimize your personal situation but to let you know that
hard times are part of the human condition.
Aikira, the mother of the six-month-old, was so consumed with worry
and self-doubt that she hadn’t stopped to realize what tremendous pressure
she had put on herself. The first step toward more self-compassion would
be to take a mindful pause and say to herself, “This is really hard. I
haven’t had good sleep for months. No one can function well without
sleep.” When she has thoughts such as, “Why can’t my child sleep through
the night?” or even, “I hate being a mother,” she can notice them without
judgment. Next, she can offer herself words of comfort: “It’s okay. Being a
parent is hard. I’m here for you.” It might seem weird to talk to yourself
like this, but once you see how helpful it is, you’ll be hooked.
Neff has found that a key tenet of compassionate self-talk is tone of
voice: Think warm, friendly, and supportive. In addition, making skin
contact with yourself, such as putting your hand on your heart or on your
forearm, fosters feelings of safety. This physical expression of kindness
lets your body know you’re on board and ready to help, activating the
“tend-and-befriend” response. Finally, Aikira could remind herself that
she’s not alone. Although those parents at the drop-in center seemed like
they had it all together, they likely had their own struggles. Once Aikira
learns to accept her painful feelings and give herself the comfort she
needs, she’ll be able to relax with her child more. It won’t magically make
her child sleep through the night, but she’ll be able to cope more
effectively.

BARRIERS TO SELF-COMPASSION

Some people are hesitant to try self-compassion practices, imagining

something along the lines of, “If I’m nice to myself, won’t I just lie
around all day eating chips and watching TV?”
What about you? Check any of the following barriers that might be
keeping you from practicing self-compassion:

□ I won’t be motivated.
□ I won’t get things accomplished.
□ I don’t deserve self-compassion.
□ I’ll become weak or soft.
□ It feels too indulgent.
□ It might lead to self-pity.

These are not unreasonable fears, as we live in a culture that uses

criticism as motivation. To some extent, it works. Think about it: If you
have a baseball coach who yells at you, it will probably motivate you in
the short term, as you’ll want to avoid the yelling and the humiliation. But
over time, this can lead to problems. Too much criticism can leave players
feeling demoralized, and some will develop performance anxiety.
Hopefully, you’ve had a coach or a mentor in your life who has done
the opposite. Instead of yelling at you when you make a mistake, they say,
“Good try. You messed up, but here’s what we can do to make it better.”
The coach doesn’t gloss over your weaknesses, but addresses them while
avoiding attacking you personally. Kindness and encouragement can get
you moving, too.
A growing body of research shows that self-compassion:

Increases productivity. People who use an encouraging self-coaching

style find they actually accomplish more.
Decreases procrastination. Self-compassion interrupts the loop
between negative self-talk and procrastination, making it more likely
you’ll stop hesitating and simply jump in to complete those projects
you’ve been avoiding.
Increases creativity. Extending yourself some TLC can lead to
accessing higher levels of creativity. You’re also more likely to show
up and put your work out there.

Here’s the key question for you: What kind of coach do you want to be
to yourself?

A SELF-COMPASSION BREAK

Try the following exercise:

1. Think of a situation you’re struggling with.

2. Assume a posture of self-compassion, such as your hand over your
heart.
3. Say to yourself in a kind tone, “This is a moment of suffering,” or,
“This is really hard right now.”
4. Take a few deep breaths and let the words sink in deeply.
5. Say to yourself, “Suffering is a part of life. Other people feel the
same way.” Take a few more deep breaths.
6. Finally, say to yourself, “May I be kind to myself in this moment and
give myself the kindness I need.” Repeat these words to yourself as
many times as it takes for them to really sink in.

It’s all right if you felt a little hokey trying that exercise. In the
Resources section, I list places you can find a variety of self-compassion
exercises so you can find ones that feel just right.
Love Yourself
You wouldn’t think it would be so hard to love ourselves—flaws and
blemishes and all—but somehow, unconditional acceptance eludes us. And
yet, to pursue our goals and live a confident life, we need self-love.
It’s important to realize that self-love is a process, and we need to start
where we are. Not all of us are going to love ourselves with abandon right
off the bat, and that’s okay.

LOVE IS OUR BIRTHRIGHT

One thing that’s helped me and many of my clients is thinking about how
we all come into the world the same: helpless, with arms outstretched,
expecting to be held, fed, and loved. Ideally, a baby is immediately
embraced and hears its parents’ delight as they say, “Welcome to the
world, baby. We’re glad you’re here.” With any luck, our needs are met
most of the time. Love is our birthright.
When I worked at a hospital, every time a child was born, a lullaby
would play over the loudspeaker. In my current office building, it’s a given
that when someone is out on parental leave, the parent brings the baby in
for a visit at some point. Everyone runs out of their offices to see them,
hold the baby, and hear the stories. There’s something magical about new
life.
What if we could nurture ourselves as we would a newborn baby?
What might that feel like? What might that look like? How might our lives
be different?
A blogger friend, Kristin Noelle, says it’s true that we’re born
innocent. And, she says, “We are still innocent. We make messes of things
absolutely, and hurt ourselves and one another in all sorts of ways. But at
heart, I believe we’re each, given our genetic makeup and life experiences,
doing the best we can.”

HOW TO START
You can take the same approach to learning to love yourself as you’re
taking to building confidence: If the feelings just aren’t there yet, start
with actions. This can mean taking care of your body, a topic we’ll discuss
more in the next chapter. It can also mean making efforts to make your life
a little easier or more fun. For example, one simple act of self-love might
be picking out the next day’s outfit and packing lunches at night to make
your morning less stressful. You’ll likely find yourself thinking, “Wow,
I’m so glad I did that”—a little burst of gratitude that will make you feel
more positively toward yourself.
Think about the ways you show love to a significant other or family
member. Do you surprise them with flowers, treats, or tickets to see a
favorite sports team? Do you make them coffee in the morning or have
their favorite meal ready at the end of a long day? Now, think of yourself
as your own loved one. What acts of kindness could you do for yourself?
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Another strategy is to keep a love list—a list of activities that bring

you joy that you can plan to incorporate into your week. These could be
things like bubble baths, crossword puzzles, rounds of golf—whatever it is
that makes your heart sing. Refer back to it whenever you need a little
spiritual boost.

My Love List
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THE FEAR FACTOR: PRACTICING ACCEPTANCE

Acceptance can be terrifying when we’re used to practicing denial.
All of us have had moments when we’d rather run from what’s
happening than face it. Sometimes we tell ourselves that if we just
pretend things are all right, our problems will go away. That’s easier
 than coming to grips with whatever truth scares us, whether it’s that
we’ve gained some weight, stayed too long in an unhappy
relationship, or fallen on hard times.
But just because you accept something doesn’t mean you are
surrendering to it, letting it become a permanent part of your life. The
sooner you face the monster in the closet, the sooner you’ll see it’s
not as ugly as you thought. You are totally capable of living a full and
beautiful life, no matter what lies behind those doors.
Another scary thing about acceptance is that it can mean pushing
back against messages from others. Maybe someone in your life tells
you that you don’t measure up in one way or another, and it takes a
lot of courage to push back and say, “Actually, I’m happy with who I
am.” But you have that courage inside you, and when you let your
light shine, you’ll be doing a service to yourself and many others.
Take a moment to think about your own fear or trepidation around
acceptance. What’s stopping you from accepting yourself and your
life?
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It’s okay to be afraid or to worry that you just can’t accept

yourself. Start with baby steps, and you’ll find it becomes more
natural over time.

Chapter Takeaways
Self-acceptance is one of the most rewarding principles you can adopt in
your life, and it will serve as a foundation for the rest of the confidence
skills you’ll learn from this book. In the next chapter , I’ll show you how
to use breathing, posture, and other tools to calm your anxiety and feel
more self-assured in any situation.

ACTION ITEMS
Here are some specific actions you can take to implement the lessons and
ideas you learned in this chapter:

1. Give yourself some credit: Write down or tell someone three things
you did today that went well.
2. The next time you get a compliment, say “thank you” and leave it at
that.
3. Do one thing on your love list (see here ) this week to lift your
spirits.
4. Take the Self-Compassion Test online: http://self-
compassion.org/test-how-self-compassionate-you-are .
5. Explore self-compassion meditations on the free Insight Timer app.
 CHAPTER 4

CALM YOUR BODY

“OUR BODIES CHANGE OUR MINDS, AND OUR

MINDS CAN CHANGE OUR BEHAVIOR, AND
OUR BEHAVIOR CAN CHANGE OUR OUT
COMES.”
—AMY CUDDY

Andre was the communications director for a large company, but he lost
his job in a corporate reorganization. After many years of feeling very
comfortable and confident in his position, he was now relegated to
scouring online job boards, submitting applications, and hoping his
résumé would interest a hiring manager.
Andre’s background and résumé attracted considerable interest, and
he was invited to several interviews. But each time, something seemed to
go wrong. A couple times Andre stumbled while answering a question. On
other occasions, he had the gut feeling the employer was looking for
someone younger.
Andre began to doubt himself. There must be something wrong with
him to get rejected over and over for jobs for which he was highly
qualified. When he asked his friends for help, they didn’t seem to think the
problem was his answers. Instead, it was how he was presenting himself.
One friend suggested he shave his beard so he might look more youthful.
Another said he needed to be more outgoing and friendly. His wife pointed
out that when he was nervous, he came across as flat and distant. Each
piece of well-meaning advice made Andre question more and more how he
came across in the interviews. He realized knowing his stuff wasn’t going
to be enough to land a job. In order to be perceived as confident, he was
going to have to fine-tune the messages he was sending with his body
language, vocal inflections, and even his grooming.

In this chapter, you’ll see that to build confidence, you have to ready
your body as well as your mind. I’ll teach you proven ways to calm your
body so you can perform at your peak, even during stressful situations
such as a job interview. You’ll learn powerful mindfulness, gratitude, and
relaxation techniques, in addition to gaining tips for general physical self-
care. And finally, I’ll lead you through some fascinating ways you can use
your body posture to soothe your anxiety and express more confidence.

Revisit Your Goals

Do you relate to Andre’s story? Think of a time when your body language
may have been giving off a less-than-confident vibe or you felt so nervous
that you couldn’t perform up to your potential. On the lines below,
describe what happened and how it felt.
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Mindfulness
I touched on mindfulness in chapter 2 and offered you a brief taste of a
mindful breathing exercise. Recall that mindfulness is intentionally paying
attention to the present moment with an attitude of openness,
nonjudgment, and curiosity. It’s a way of inclining the mind in a useful
direction. You’ve heard the phrase, “You are what you eat.” The same can
be said for our minds: We are what we pay attention to. By directing your
attention in a certain way, mindfulness will help you develop greater calm
at your core, making it more likely you’ll tackle even your toughest
challenges. A strong mindfulness muscle, built through regular practice, is
an important tool to have in your self-confidence tool kit.
 Before we move on, I want to dispel a few myths about mindfulness
that may get in the way of your approaching this section with an open
mind.

MINDFULNESS MYTHS

• You do not have to believe anything in particular to practice

mindfulness. Although many religions have contemplative practices
(e.g., meditation, centering prayers), the versions you’ll learn here are
secular.
• Mindfulness is not something exotic, mysterious, or reserved for a
special few. You don’t have to sit cross-legged, and you don’t have to
burn incense (but you can if you want to).
• Mindfulness may or may not involve formal meditation. Some people
develop a regular meditation practice once they get a taste of
mindfulness, but this is not necessary.
• Mindfulness is not a cure-all. As mindfulness has entered the
mainstream culture, the implication has been that it’s so powerful it
can cure everything from depression to chronic pain. While it can help
with many conditions, it’s generally not a stand-alone treatment. If you
suffer from clinical depression or an anxiety disorder, or have a history
of trauma, please work with a mental health professional.

Have you tried mindfulness before?

□ Yes
□ No

What has been your experience?

□ Positive
□ Negative
□ Neutral

Check any of the mindfulness myths that you’ve ever believed:

□ Mindfulness involves religion.

□ Mindfulness is mysterious.
□ You have to meditate to practice mindfulness.
□ Mindfulness will cure all your problems.

MINDFULNESS BASICS

The steps of most mindfulness practices share common instructions:

Bring your attention to the present moment. To facilitate this, you’ll

select an object of attention. It can be the breath, but it could be the
sounds around you, sensations in a part of your body (for example, the
hands), or the experience of the whole body.
Observe what’s happening in that moment. If you’re focusing on the
breath, notice where you feel the breath most strongly—at the nostrils,
perhaps the chest, or maybe the abdomen. If you’d like, you can
silently say, “In,” on the inhale and, “Out,” on the exhale. This is a soft
mental note to help you stay focused. If you’re focusing on your hands,
you can ask, “Do they feel warm? Are they tingling?” By focusing on
your present moment experience, you’ll be able to disengage more
easily from the past, which you can’t change, and the future, which is
uncertain.
Notice when your attention has strayed. It may be a few seconds or a
few minutes into your practice, but you’ll wake up and realize that
you’ve been lost in a long story (what your boss said to you yesterday)
or a short complaint (your leg is falling asleep). No problem! It
doesn’t mean you’ve done anything wrong. Meditation expert Sharon
Salzberg calls this “the magic moment,” and believes it to be a crucial
aspect of the practice. The point when you notice your mind has
wandered is the moment when you have a chance to do it differently.
Instead of scolding yourself by thinking, “I am so bad at this,” be
gentle with yourself and simply start again, refocusing on your object
of attention.

That’s it. The three basic instructions are simple, although you’ll find
they’re not always easy. Practice helps a lot, and so do the following tips.
MINDFULNESS TIPS

If you’re a beginner, here are some practical ways to work mindfulness

practices into your daily life. Set a goal to spend just a few minutes being
mindful each day. If you want to devote more time to your practice, you
can refer to the Resources section for books, apps, and podcasts that can
help.

Find your style. If you sit at your desk all day, practicing mindfulness
on a chair or cushion at home may not be what you need. A walking
mindfulness practice may suit you better.
Be flexible. Some people suffer from chronic pain or other health
conditions, and prolonged sitting is difficult. Magazine covers show
young bodies sitting in the lotus position, but you can practice while
sitting, lying down, walking, or standing. Listen to your body, and
practice in whatever pose works for you.
Keep your expectations realistic. Remember that mindfulness isn’t
going to solve all your problems and make your life constantly
peaceful.

One thing I hope you’ll discover: Although you may not find any one
mindfulness session particularly impressive, over time, you’ll notice the
effects in your life. For example, you’ll instinctively pause before you hit
Send on that critical email, or you’ll more quickly refocus when you’re
being a jerk to yourself. Mindfulness will pave the way to a more positive
and confident you.

ONE-MINUTE MINDFULNESS
Here are a few exercises you can try that will take no longer than a
minute.
1. Notice that you’re safe right now. Are you breathing? Check. Jon
Kabat-Zinn reminds us, “If you’re breathing, there’s more right
with you than wrong with you.”
2. Take a deep breath, imagining you’re breathing in white light as
you inhale and breathing out dark clouds as you exhale. Repeat.
 3. Pet your cat or dog and immerse yourself in the sensations of
your hand touching its fur. Allow your pet’s unconditional loving
gaze to seep deep inside you.
4. Do this “5-4-3-2-1” exercise that engages all your senses: Take
note of five things you can see, four things you can hear, three
things you can touch, two things you can smell, and one thing
you can taste.
5. Pretend you have to write a letter to a friend describing this
moment with as much evocative detail as possible. What do you
notice around you? How would you set the scene?
6. Focus for a moment on each part of your body from toes to
head, thinking to yourself with each breath, “Let my feet be at
ease . . . Let my calves be at ease . . . Let my knees be at ease,”
and so forth.
7. Take a minute during a meal to set distractions aside and focus
on the experience of eating. Taking slow bites, notice the aromas
and flavors of the dish and the gratitude you feel for the meal.
8. Visualize a stream flowing past you. Each time a thought pops
into your head, imagine the thought as a leaf on the stream,
slowly passing by and out of view.
9. Think about your hands. What have your hands done for you
today? Notice any worries or judgments about each hand. What
sensations do you feel in your hands right now? Let your
thoughts come and go.
10. Pick an object in your surroundings and pretend you’ve never
seen it before. With openness and curiosity, notice its color,
texture, shape, and shadow.

Relaxation
Stress can make you feel out of control, which undermines self-
confidence. When you feel out of your depth or are facing a challenge that
matters a lot to you, physical symptoms of anxiety are almost sure to
follow. A racing heart and sweaty palms can draw your attention away
from the moment, but with some practice, you can learn to soothe yourself
through relaxation techniques.
By relaxing, you not only train the body to react differently to events
going on around you; you also change the way you think about situations
or tasks that used to fill you with dread. As you face these situations and
cope better using these relaxation techniques, your fear will lessen and
your self-confidence will improve.

DIAPHRAGMATIC BREATHING

In mindfulness practice, we use the breath as an anchor, but we’re not

trying to manipulate it in any way. We’re simply noticing and experiencing
the sensations of the breath. There are also formal breathing techniques
that can help you focus and calm your nerves, preparing you for whatever
confidence challenge you’re about to face.
The breathing technique described below is often called diaphragmatic
breathing , named for the large, umbrella-shaped muscle that separates the
chest cavity from the abdominal cavity.
There are four main points to know about diaphragmatic breathing:

1. Inhale and exhale through your nose. Breathing through your mouth
increases the possibility of hyperventilating.
2. As you inhale, your abdomen should extend outward. You can think
of this as making room for the air you’re taking in. As you exhale,
your abdomen flattens as you push the air out.
3. Concentrate on slowing down your breathing to approximately 8 to
10 breaths per minute. This is just a general guideline; you don’t have
to count each time.
4. Make the exhale longer than the inhale. Really work at pushing all
the air out of your lungs. For example, if you inhale to the count of
four, exhale to the count of six.

One of the easiest ways to learn this form of breathing is to lie on the
floor or sit in a chair, with one hand on your abdomen right about where
your navel is. Feel your hand rise and fall as you inhale and exhale,
following the points above. Practice this twice a day, 5 minutes each time.
By deliberately choosing to breathe in a more calming manner, you give
yourself the opportunity to think more clearly about your reactions to
events, rather than simply responding in a knee-jerk fashion.
Keep track of your practice with the Relaxation Practice Log below.

Relaxation Practice Log

Use this form to track your breathing and progressive muscle relaxation
exercises. Note the date and time, the type of exercise you practiced, and
your beginning and ending tension level, with 0 being very relaxed and 10
being very tense.

Date/Time Type of Exercise Beginning Tension Ending Tension

Level (0-10) Level (0-10)

PROGRESSIVE MUSCLE RELAXATION

The goal of progressive muscle relaxation is to recognize the difference

between how your muscles feel when they’re tense and how they feel when
relaxed. With practice, you’ll begin to quickly scan your body for muscle
tension and be able to relax trouble spots on command.
These are the instructions:

1. Find a comfortable, quiet place to sit or lie down.

2. Take a deep breath from your diaphragm (your belly).
3. Tense each muscle group following the list below. Notice what the
tension feels like. Hold the tension for 5 to 10 seconds.
4. Release the tension. Focus on how relaxed the muscle feels.
5. Take another deep breath.
6. Repeat the procedure with each muscle group.

Below are the major areas of the body. If you experience pain in any of
the areas, stop immediately and omit them in the future.

• Right foot, then left foot

• Right calf, then left calf
• Right thigh, then left thigh
• Hips and buttocks
• Stomach
• Chest
• Back
• Right arm and hand, then left arm and hand
• Neck and shoulders
• Face

It should take approximately 15 to 20 minutes to go through the entire

process. Remember, the goal is to really notice the difference between
tension and relaxation.
Once you gain some comfort with progressive muscle relaxation, you
can omit the tensing part, and instead focus only on relaxing each area of
the body in turn. Silently tell yourself to relax each muscle and allow the
tension to slip effortlessly away. You can intensify the relaxation by
imagining the muscle being heavy and warm. This will shorten the time
the process takes and allow you to reach a state of relaxation more quickly.
 Keep track of your practice on the same Relaxation Practice Log that
you used for your diaphragmatic breathing exercises.

Gratitude
Gratitude can be one of the most calming practices you can adopt,
particularly when you think you don’t have much to be thankful for. As
you learned in chapter 3 , our minds are wired to zoom in on negative
events, blurring out the bounty of blessings surrounding them. If you’re
holding this book, you likely also have access to food, shelter, sanitation,
and safety. How lucky is that? Our fears tend to loom large, but practicing
gratitude can help us zoom out and see them in the context of everything
that’s going right.

GRATITUDE FOR THE POSITIVE

Low self-confidence often goes hand in hand with a mentality of scarcity.

We think we don’t have enough beauty, enough brains, enough discipline,
or enough moxie to be where we want to be. But in reality, most of us are
surrounded by abundance. Try this: When you find yourself focusing on an
area where you think you’re lacking, replace it with thoughts about what
you do have.
Here’s an example:

Scarcity thought: I don’t make as much money as the other people in

my social circle.
Abundance thoughts: I have a job. I put food on the table. I have a
home. I buy clothes for my kids. I have a comfortable bed. I have a
phone and a TV. I have the means to visit out-of-state relatives every
year. (And so on.)
Now you try:

Scarcity thought:

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Abundance thoughts:
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Research shows practicing gratitude decreases rumination, increases

energy, and contributes to overall happiness. It also improves sleep; many
people find it useful to write in a gratitude journal before bed. You can
also trade the old trick of counting sheep for counting blessings, which
replaces the anxious thoughts that tend to creep in at night with thoughts
of gratitude for the health, love, safety, fun, and meaning in your life.

GRATITUDE AFTER TRAUMA

We’ve all had deeply painful experiences we wish we could go back in

time and erase: the death of a loved one, a terrible injury, a failed
marriage. Such experiences can shift our life paths and fundamentally
change who we are. These are the dark parts of life that can keep us
trudging along old roads of pain, fear, and self-doubt.
But it’s possible to modify your mind-set to focus on what happened in
the aftermath of the terrible event. Our greatest challenges often show us
strength we never knew we had. We gain perspective and start treating life
as precious and fleeting. We’re gentler and kinder to others. Our skin gets
thicker. We learn who really cares for us and what we’re truly made of. We
see flaws in the path we had been headed down before we were forced onto
a new one.
Research on post-traumatic growth shows that practicing gratitude for
those changes can make us more resilient, less fearful, less vengeful, and
less stuck in the past. Take note: No one expects you to feel grateful for
the negative event itself. While you may eventually view some painful life
experiences as blessings in disguise, other things will always be tragedies.
But by recognizing the wonderful things in your life that bloomed from
those dark days, you’re more likely to be able to face the unknown future
with openness and bravery.

GRATITUDE FOR OTHERS

Expressing your gratitude for the people in your life is one of the
healthiest gratitude practices of all. Not only do you get all the
aforementioned benefits of feeling grateful, but you also get to make
others feel appreciated—which bolsters your confidence by making you
feel like a good person and strengthens your social bonds, lowering your
risk of anxiety and depression.
Try incorporating the power of saying “thanks” into your daily life.
Give yourself extra points when you:

□ Make your thank-you specific, e.g.: “I really appreciate the work you
did on that report, Tina. The extra effort you put into the graphs really
made it pop.”
□ Thank someone who might not always receive appreciation, such as a
janitor or bus driver.
□ Mail an old-school, handwritten thank-you note to someone who has
really done a lot for you, perhaps with flowers or another gift.
□ Thank someone who would otherwise have no idea the impact they
made on your life. This could be a teacher you had decades ago who
shaped your career aspirations or a journalist you’ve never met whose
stories keep you informed about your neighborhood.
□ If you’re thanking someone you’re close with, do it with a consenual
hug or another display of affection. Studies show that holding
someone’s hand can diminish the experience of physical pain. Just
ask first!

Body Language
Remember Andre, our friend from the beginning of this chapter who was
struggling with job interviews? He knew his résumé was getting him a
second look, but something about how he was coming off in person was
leaving potential employers less than impressed. The more he worried
about that, the less he could focus on selling himself as a candidate.
Luckily, science is on Andre’s side—and yours.
When you practice using posture and nonverbal communication to
your advantage, not only will you appear more confident to others, but
you’ll feel more confident, too. That’s because the way you stand, sit, and
move sends signals to your brain about whether there’s a threat in your
environment. When you learn to calm your mind, you can free yourself up
to concentrate on what really matters, like wowing an interviewer.

NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION

If you struggle with confidence, sometimes your body can feel traitorous.
You’re convinced everyone can see how nervous you are; your fears and
flaws are radiating through every pore. It’s true that nonverbal
communication makes a strong impression: Studies show eye contact,
facial expressions, gestures, and posture send more memorable messages
than words. But the good news is that you have a lot of control over the
signals you’re sending, and projecting confidence is not as difficult as you
might think.
The two key concepts to remember are openness and warmth . If you
can keep those traits in mind, your authentic and best self will shine
through, allowing you to be seen, heard, and truly understood by others.

Openness: When you find a situation threatening, your body’s instinct

is to retreat into itself. Without realizing it, you might find yourself
slouching, folding your arms across your chest, or placing a hand on
your neck. Those movements keep your body in fight-or-flight mode,
paralyzing you with anxiety. Remind yourself instead to take up space.
Follow your grandmother’s advice: Sit up straight, uncross your arms
and legs, and try not to fidget. Take up time, too, breathing deeply and
speaking without rushing.
Warmth: Research shows people feel instantly connected with
someone who acts warm and friendly. Once that person is in their good
graces, they don’t pay much mind to conversational stumbles, a
cracking voice, or a trembling hand. So when you feel intimidated,
remember that you already know how to be kind. Smile, ask questions,
include people, and look them in the eye. It makes a world of
difference.

If you’d like, you can ask a trusted friend or family member to tip you
off to body language cues you don’t know you’re sending. Nervous habits,
like peeling the label off a beer bottle at happy hour, can sometimes
become invisible to us. These small habits may seem unimportant, but
keep in mind that all of this work is in the service of getting your values
and strengths to shine through.

POWER POSES

If you’ve seen psychologist Amy Cuddy’s viral 2012 TED Talk, “Your
Body Language May Shape Who You Are,” you know there’s even more
you can do to use your body to psych up your mind. Cuddy popularized the
idea of “power posing,” or holding yourself in an expansive posture for a
couple minutes before you walk into a confidence challenge. It sounds
silly, but it works: The pose shifts your hormonal balance, making you feel
more powerful and more likely to take risks.
Now, Cuddy doesn’t recommend standing like Wonder Woman at the
front of a crowded boardroom. But if you can find a bathroom stall or
another private place to “power pose” just before a big interview,
presentation, or date, you’ll reap physiological rewards. Here are two
poses you can try:
 Wonder Woman: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, chest
puffed out and hands on your hips, like a superhero.
Starfish: This is the ecstatic pose you see when people cross the finish
line of a race. With your feet shoulder-width apart, hold your arms in a
V over your head, making yourself as big as you can.

Maintain Your Physical Health

If you find yourself having trouble staying calm under pressure, you might
be surprised how much of a difference it makes to treat your body well.
Sometimes that means a big mind-set shift is in order, because to give
your body what it needs, you have to put yourself first. Too often we don’t
take time to exercise or enjoy something relaxing because we’re too busy
putting other people’s needs ahead of our own. When I fall into that trap, I
recall the preflight instructions on airlines: Put your own oxygen mask on
first.

SLEEP

Many of us are chronically sleep-deprived. We stay up late to finish that

report, do another load of laundry, or zone out behind our screens.
For people prone to self-doubt, adequate sleep is crucial. It can mean
the difference between thinking about an issue realistically and becoming
needlessly upset over something that’s not important.
How much sleep is enough? Although many people require
approximately seven to eight hours each night, individual needs vary. The
general rule of thumb is if you’re sleepy during the day, you probably need
more sleep. Sticking to a regular bedtime and wake-up time also makes a
big difference.
Many sleep experts also recommend a 20- to 30-minute nap during the
afternoon, citing improved concentration and functioning. Unfortunately,
corporate America doesn’t generally allow for this. But if you work at
home and can take a quick catnap, it’s definitely worth trying.
Before you fall asleep, take a few moments to dwell on a sense of
peacefulness, noting that nothing is wrong or missing. Sure, maybe the day
had its challenges, but you’re safe now, and all your basic needs are met.
Bring to mind the people you care about, and those who care about you, as
you gently allow yourself to let go of the day.

EXERCISE

Have you ever felt stuck on a problem—be it a work project or a battle of

wills with a toddler—and then gone for a walk or a run, only to return with
a clear mind, knowing just what to do?
That’s the power of exercise. It’s definitely more than getting in shape.
It’s an integral part of reducing tension and worry, managing negative
moods, and as noted above, problem solving. Coping with stress by
engaging the body is great because you bypass a lot of unhelpful mental
chatter. The key is finding a form of activity you enjoy that doesn’t feel
boring or like a chore you have to do because “it’s good for you.”
For aerobic exercise, try swimming, running, or walking. Consider
yoga or tai chi for exercise that taps strongly into the mind–body
connection. If you enjoy team sports, check around for a recreational
league. And don’t forget about activities you enjoyed as a child that you
can still do now: riding a bike, dancing, or chasing after your dog in the
backyard.

HEALTHFUL EATING

I wish I could tell you there’s a perfect confidence diet, but no such luck.
Everyone has to figure out for themselves what foods make them feel their
best. Of course, we all benefit from plenty of healthy, nutrient-dense food,
but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy your favorite treats on occasion.
Eating should be enjoyable; if you find that your relationship with food
has become obsessive or stressful, please consider talking to your doctor.
There are additional resources related to disordered eating in the back of
this book (see here ).
At the risk of sounding preachy, keep in mind that some foods and
substances can be confidence killers if overdone. For example, while
coffee in moderation can improve focus, too much can lead to jitters. In
addition to coffee, watch your intake of alcohol. Many people with low
self-confidence, particularly in social situations, use alcohol to cope.
Sadly, the things that people do to cope with social anxiety, such as having
a drink or two before the party, will only maintain fear over the long run.

THE FEAR FACTOR: CALMING YOUR BODY

Some of what I’ve discussed in this chapter might not sound like fun
to you. For instance, some people who have tried breathing exercises
or mindfulness don’t find them soothing at all at first. “What’s so
calming about being alone with my racing thoughts?” you might
think. Or maybe sitting there with your eyes closed just makes you
feel a little silly.
If sitting still doesn’t come naturally to you, and you’ve never
had any success clearing your mind, you are 100 percent normal. The
goal here is not to become a Zen master, unless you really want to!
Instead, you’re simply trying to make your body a little bit more of
an ally as you pursue your goals.
The suggestions in this chapter also include some lifestyle
changes that might seem overwhelming. Please don’t worry that
you’ll never attain self-assurance until you’re a marathon-running,
caffeine-eschewing, vegan yogi who has no trouble sleeping through
the night. You don’t have to be in perfect health to be confident—in
fact, you don’t have to be a perfect anything to be confident! When it
comes to being kind to your body, small changes can make a world of
difference.
Take a moment to note any fears or trepidation that arose as you
read this chapter, and then note three baby steps you can take to
overcome those fears.
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Chapter Takeaways
In this chapter, you learned how observing the present moment can stop
your mind from time traveling to the past and future. You saw how your
breathing, posture, and other nonverbal cues can trick your body into
telling your mind to calm down. Maybe you’re even appreciating your
mom for her age-old advice to say “thank you” and to get some sleep,
because now you know how those habits boost confidence.
Now that you know your body a bit better, it’s time to get to know your
mind. Let’s look at how negative thinking can trap us and keep us from
progressing toward our goals and becoming more confident, and how we
can overcome it.

ACTION ITEMS

Here are some specific actions you can take to implement the lessons and
ideas you learned in this chapter:

1. When you next find yourself with a few minutes of downtime—

maybe when you’re waiting in line—try one of the one-minute
mindfulness exercises from this chapter.
2. See if you can incorporate 90 minutes of exercise into your week.
3. Say, “Thank you,” to someone you’ve never thanked before.
4. Watch Amy Cuddy’s talk about “power posing” on TED.com.
5. Set a goal to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day this
week.
 CHAPTER 5

WORK WITH YOUR THOUGHTS

“IT IS THE MARK OF AN EDUCATED MIND TO

BE ABLE TO ENTERTAIN A THOUGHT
WITHOUT ACCEPTING IT.”
—ARISTOTLE

There’s no way I’ll get that promotion.

I’m failing as a parent.
No one would want to go out with me. I’m such a loser.

Does any of this sound familiar? If so, you’re not alone. Many people
battle negative thinking constantly.
Unfortunately, most of us don’t know how to handle negative thinking
in a healthy way. We obsess over the reasons we can’t do something or
aren’t good enough, working ourselves into an anxious frenzy that affects
our performance. Our preoccupation with the worst-case scenario becomes
a self-fulfilling prophecy, lowering our self-confidence and keeping us
from doing our best.
This chapter introduces one approach to dealing with negative
thoughts and the self-talk that results from those thoughts. You will learn
how to identify unhelpful thinking patterns and how to consider other,
more adaptive ways of thinking. As you examine and question your
negative thoughts, you may find deeper assumptions at their root. I’ll talk
more about how to address negative core beliefs in chapter 6 .
Keep in mind that this chapter is not about going to war with your
negative thoughts. It’s about recognizing them and considering alternative
possibilities, freeing yourself up to take action and build self-confidence.
Revisit Your Goals
Take some time to revisit the goals you set for yourself in chapter 2 . Are
there any negative thoughts holding you back from pursuing those goals?
What are they? If you could rise above them, what kind of difference do
you think that would make in your life? Jot down some thoughts below.
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The Trap of Negative Thinking

All of us have a near-constant stream of thoughts running through our
minds. Much of the time, these thoughts are neutral, and sometimes
they’re even pleasant. The thoughts we’ll be dealing with are what
psychologists call automatic negative thoughts or cognitive distortions .
These are thoughts that don’t serve you well. They’re either blatantly
untrue or, at the very least, not helpful.
Negative thoughts themselves aren’t the problem—it’s the power we
give them. You can choose to believe your negative thoughts, treating
them as unassailable facts and proceeding through life trapped in their iron
grip. Or you can choose to perceive a negative thought the same way you
view the millions of fleeting sensations, snap judgments, and other
cognitions that zip through your mind every day. They’re information,
sure, but they’re not absolute truth.
To help you recognize and deconstruct your negative thoughts, let’s
learn about the different flavors these thoughts come in. We’ll focus on the
story of Sasha, a 40-year-old woman who dreams of going back to school
to earn her bachelor’s degree but just can’t shake her nagging doubts.

MAKING ASSUMPTIONS

“If I go back to school, all the 18-year-olds in my classes will judge me

and pity me for being there. Plus, I haven’t been in school for decades. I’m
so out of practice that I’ll fail all my classes.”

When Sasha thinks about college, she immediately jumps to

conclusions. She can see into the future, and it’s not pretty. But what
evidence does she really have to believe this unfortunate vision of her
collegiate career? When you make assumptions, you’re usually filling the
void of the unknown by imagining an undesirable outcome. In reality, a
number of good things are also possible.

“SHOULDING”

“A person my age should be making twice as much money as I am now. I

need to get my act together.”

Sasha’s stress about her education level sometimes bubbles up into

thoughts about where she “should” be in life or what she “needs” or
“ought” to do. This type of thinking might almost sound positive: Hey,
she’s motivating herself to pursue a goal, right? But what she’s really
doing here is setting inflexible standards for herself that she’s already
failed to meet. Her “shoulding” isn’t rooted in self-compassion or her own
values; the goalpost is arbitrary.
When Sasha really thinks about what matters to her, her salary is
nowhere near the top of the list. She wants an education to better herself
and pursue a more meaningful career. Her “shoulds” come from
internalizing others’ expectations and comparing herself to her neighbor
down the street, and listening to those thoughts has only convinced her
she’ll never measure up. That perfectionism is bound to shake her self-
confidence and make it harder to move toward her goals.

BLACK-AND-WHITE/ALL-OR-NOTHING THINKING

“If I don’t graduate with honors at the end of all this, it won’t have been
worth the struggle. I’ll be a failure.”

Here, Sasha has decided that she’s either an A+ or an F. There is no in

between. This kind of perfectionism sets her up to view herself as a failure
no matter what. But the truth is there’s a lot of beauty between these two
poles, where she’ll most likely end up: the concepts she’ll conquer, the
skills she’ll gain, the pride she’ll feel knowing she went for her goal. She
will make mistakes, but they won’t reduce her to a zero. Learning to
appreciate her accomplishments without letting her false steps overshadow
them will allow her to keep moving forward.

CATASTROPHIZING

“If I enroll in college full-time, I’m just going to flunk out my first
semester, and I won’t be able to come back to this job. Then I’ll run out of
money. I’ll have to move in with my mother, and I’ll be so ashamed I’ll just
want to lie down and die.”

Sasha’s worrying mind has leapt from merely making assumptions to

imagining the worst-case scenario, a failure so devastating she could never
recover. The chances that bright and driven Sasha will fail out of school,
fail to find work, and wind up back at her mother’s house are so miniscule
as to be laughable. But when she buys into what her mind is telling her,
she sometimes loses sight of reality.

FEELINGS VERSUS FACTS

“Whenever I even think about walking into a college classroom, I feel

embarrassed, stupid, and panicked. That just goes to show this is a bad
idea and I could never hack it.”

It’s all too easy for Sasha to let her feelings write the story of what her
college experience would be like. If she feels stupid, that must mean she is
stupid. But feelings aren’t facts.
If you want to prove it to yourself, think about the last time you dealt
with a week of rainy weather. After a day or two, you probably felt a little
glum, and maybe your inner monologue started to sound like it was
written by Eeyore, the sad-sack donkey from Winnie-the-Pooh : “Oh, why
bother? Nothing ever goes right for me.” But nothing about your life had
actually changed. You were just buying into your feelings, which can shift
with your hormones, your diet, and even the weather.
 “FEAR IS FAMILIARITY’S IMPOSTER. IT
PASSES OFF WHAT YOU DREAD FOR WHAT
YOU KNOW, OFFERS THE WORST IN PLACE OF
THE AMBIGUOUS, SERVES UP ANXIETY IN
THE ABSENCE OF COMFORT, SUBSTITUTES
ASSUMPTION FOR REASON. UNDER THE
WARPED LOGIC OF FEAR, ANYTHING IS
BETTER THAN THE UNCERTAIN.”
—ISAAC LIDSKY

Our feelings love to spin narratives about whether we’ll succeed and
whether others like us. But often, these stories are wildly off the mark.
Now that you know some of the key types of automatic negative
thoughts, see if you can recognize them in your own thinking. Pick one of
your goals from your list in chapter 2 . Think about the process of chasing
that goal, and using the space below, list any negative thoughts and
predictions that come to mind.
Next, examine each thought and see if it fits into one or more of the
cognitive distortion categories discussed in this chapter.

Negative Thoughts Cognitive Distortions

 IDENTIFY AND RECORD NEGATIVE THOUGHTS
Just as tracking your spending helps you stick to a budget, writing
down your negative thoughts will help you take inventory of what’s
running through your mind and why. Try keeping a log of your
automatic negative thoughts for a few days. This works best if you
carry a small notebook with you, so you can capture the thought when
it’s fresh in your mind.
Record the uncensored version of what’s going on in your mind.
What are you telling yourself? What do you fear will happen? If
you’re having trouble putting it into words, write anyway: “I’m not
sure what I’m thinking, but I wonder if it has something to do with
____________?” Generate several possibilities.
You won’t have to write out your thoughts forever. But in the
beginning, most people find it helpful. Sometimes, as soon as you
write down a thought, you’re able to catch the error in your logic.
(“Wait, why am I assuming my boss will be angry if I ask for
guidance on this project? Maybe she’ll be glad to help.”) Other times,
you might need to examine the thought more to evaluate whether it’s
realistic and what you can do about it. Or the thought might be linked
to a faulty core belief, such as, “A good employee never asks for
help.” I’ll help you learn to dig deeper into your thoughts and beliefs
in this chapter and the next.

6 Steps to Break Negative Thinking Patterns

Once you’ve started noticing your negative thoughts, you’re well on your
way to breaking free of them. Don’t get frustrated if you find it
challenging at first. As you know, our minds are wired to focus on the
negative. Just as memories are tagged by smell and taste, they’re also
tagged by feeling, meaning that once you’re in a bad mood, it’s easy to get
caught in a negative thought spiral. You might feel a little like Michael
Corleone in The Godfather Part III : “Just when I thought I was out, they
pull me back in!” But the techniques in this section will help you train
your brain to draw itself out of the muck.

IDENTIFY THINKING ERRORS

Automatic negative thoughts can be like a loud air conditioner or a noisy

street. You get so used to hearing them drone on, day in and day out, that
at some point you don’t even realize they’re there. That’s why it’s useful to
get in the habit of writing them down. Suddenly, the ceaseless background
noise saying, “Am I enough? Am I doing this right? Will they like me?”
comes into the foreground, making it easier to address.
It would be nice if a thinking error would sound an alert, saying, “Hey,
don’t believe me. I’m an automatic negative thought.” But too often, we’re
not initially aware that we’re in distorted-thinking territory. We might not
even “hear” the thought in distinct, easy-to-express words. Pay attention to
your feelings. If you notice a change in your mood or an increase in
anxiety, ask yourself, “What was I doing just before I felt anxious? What
was going on around me?” Take a mindful pause and see what arises,
remembering not to judge your thoughts.
When you write down the thoughts, ask yourself, “What evidence is
there to support this idea? What evidence is there against it?” See if you
can match the thought to one of the cognitive distortions listed above. Use
the following chart to identify negative thoughts and examine them. Take
your time over the course of a week or so; each time a negative thought
arises, jot it down in the chart.

Automatic negative Evidence this is true Evidence this is false

thought
REFRAME NEGATIVE SELF-TALK

Sometimes, asking whether a negative thought is realistic is enough to

dismantle it. That approach works particularly well with thoughts about
outcomes: If you’re expecting failure, you can usually push yourself to see
that success is possible, too. But with other types of thoughts, asking, “Is
this true?” is going to leave you spinning your wheels. For instance, if you
keep thinking, “I’m ugly,” you don’t want to spend time looking for
objective evidence about whether you’re attractive. You’ll never find it.
Instead, you want to ask yourself a different question: “Is this thought
helpful?” Is it helping you move toward your goals, or is it holding you
back? Is it even important or relevant to what you’re trying to achieve?
Does it sound like something a good coach would say to help motivate
you?
If not, try to reframe the thought in a more positive way. Let’s say you
were taking lessons to learn to swim as an adult. You might think, “I’m so
ignorant. I can’t believe I’m struggling to learn to do something my six-
year-old niece can do!” How does calling yourself dumb make you feel? Is
it useful? Not really—if you feel embarrassed for even trying, you’re just
going to want to quit. Try telling yourself instead, “I’m courageous for
taking this step to gain a skill I’ve always wanted to have.”
Reframing works for nerves, too. The next time you’re anxious, try
telling yourself, “I feel this way because what I’m about to do is important
to me. It’s great that I’m moving ahead toward my goal.” The butterflies in
your stomach won’t go away, but they’ll start to feel a little more like
excitement, and you’ll remember how prepared and capable you are.
Try reframing some of your own negative thoughts in the space below.

Negative self-talk What would a friend or wise mentor say?

DEFUSE FROM THOUGHTS

You’ve heard the expression, “Don’t believe everything you read.” Well,
it’s important not to believe everything you think, either. These techniques
can help you defuse from a negative thought, or become less attached to it
so you can move forward.

Label your thoughts. Instead of saying, “I’m a loser,” say, “I’m

having the thought that I’m a loser.” Instead of saying, “I’m going to
blow this test,” say “I’m having the thought that I’m going to blow this
test.” You can distance the thought even further by saying, “My mind
is having the thought that . . . ” The difference may seem subtle, but it
can help you gain the perspective that you are not your thoughts.
Let them float away. This one involves imagery. You visualize each
negative thought as a balloon and imagine it floating up, up, and away.
When you have another thought, as you will, you put it on another
balloon and watch it float away.
Thank your mind. If you’re having anxious thoughts, such as, “I hope
this plane doesn’t crash . . . I hope the pilot knows what he’s doing,”
say, “Thank you, mind. Thank you for trying to keep me safe. But
there’s nothing that you really need to do right now. I’ve got it
covered.”
Name your stories. Many times, our thoughts are repetitive and
involve the same stories. Maybe yours is, “I don’t really know what
I’m doing.” When thoughts come up along that story line, you can say,
“Oh, here’s my ‘I’m Incompetent’ story,” and just let it go.
Sing your thoughts. Try singing your thoughts to the alphabet song or
to “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.” Your thoughts will certainly sound
absurd this way, which is the whole point.

Now let’s put these techniques into practice with an exercise. Think of
a negative thought you’ve had recently, and go through the defusion
techniques listed above, one by one. Then use the chart below to rate each
technique according to its helpfulness.

Defusion Technique Not helpful Somewhat helpful Very helpful

Label your thoughts

Let them float away

Thank your mind

Name your stories

Sing your thoughts

AVOID GENERALIZATIONS

As you get in the habit of noticing your negative thoughts, look for
absolute terms, such as all , every , none , never , and always . Those
words usually indicate black-and-white thinking, where you’re viewing the
world through dark glasses that block out all the good. To switch out your
lenses, try to make your self-talk balanced and as specific as possible, as
in the examples below. If you’re stuck, remind yourself of something you
did that went well or an area in which you’ve made progress.

Generalization: I always screw things up.

Balanced self-talk: Sometimes things don’t go as I had planned.
Sometimes things go okay. Sometimes things even go better than
expected.
Generalization: I’m fat. I’m never going to get in shape.
Balanced self-talk: I weigh 162 pounds, which is less than I did at the
beginning of the year. My doctor says my blood pressure is good. Yes,
I would benefit from moving more to have more energy, but I’ve made
a good start by adding a 15-minute walk around my neighborhood to
my morning routine.

Generalization: I’m always so quiet at parties.

 Balanced self-talk: I am often quiet at parties where I don’t know
many people. Once I get to know someone, I have plenty to say.

You try:

Generalization:
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Balanced self-talk:
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It’s also important to keep a clear, balanced outlook about your future.
You might think you know the ending to your story: “Things will never
turn out right for me.” But the truth is, unless you’re psychic, you just
can’t predict what’s going to happen. Uncertainty sounds uncomfortable,
but it’s really another word for possibility . The plot twists life has in store
can be more thrilling and astonishing than any movie.
Try adding the phrase “I wonder” to the stories you tell yourself about
the future: “I wonder how __________ will turn out.” If you start to stress
about unknowns and what-ifs, tell yourself, “I don’t have to know that
yet.” All you can do is try your best to prepare and feel proud of yourself
for doing so.

CALM YOUR INNER CRITIC

Your inner critic is going to be with you your whole life—but that doesn’t
mean he or she gets to have any power. Here are some ways to push past
the nasty words inside your head and keep going.

Give your inner critic a name. “Hey, Negative Nancy, nice to see you
again. Why don’t you have a seat here and have some tea. Hang out
while I do what I need to do.” Humor helps!
 Remember that your critic has good intentions. For example, maybe
your inner critic says, “Don’t do that stand-up comedy open mic night.
You’ll be horrible.” The message is meant to save you from
embarrassment—but you know better than to let the potential for
failure stop you. Don’t fight the thoughts, or your inner critic will get
louder. Say, “Thanks, mind,” and move on.
Remind your inner critic that plenty of times, things turn out just
fine. Your inner critic loves to ask, “What if things go wrong?” You
can retort, “Well, what if things go right?”

HEALTHY COPING STATEMENTS

Although generalized affirmations, such as, “I’m a winner,” don’t tend to

work to combat negative thinking, there are coping statements you can use
to calm yourself down. Like an affirmation, a coping statement is positive.
But it’s also rooted in what you truly believe, making your mind more
likely to buy in.
When you’re imagining the worst, try to focus on a coping statement,
such as, “Most people will accept it if . . .” (“I stutter during my speech,”
“my small talk is awkward at the party,” or whatever outcome you fear).
And then remind yourself, “If not, I can cope”—whether the outcome is
disapproval, disappointment, or some other unfavorable result.
Let’s look at Mia’s example. She had been invited to a pool party and
she really wanted to go. She hadn’t been out of the house much since her
baby was born three months ago, and she wanted to see her friends. The
problem was, she “felt fat.” She assumed she’d be at her pre-pregnancy
weight by now, but she wasn’t. How could she possibly be seen in a
swimming suit? Her negative thinking was loud and mean: “Everyone will
stare at me. They’ll think I should’ve already lost this weight.” Mia went
through the steps above and made considerable progress in balancing her
negative thoughts with more realistic ones. However, when she got
stressed thinking about it, all rationality went out the window. She had no
confidence in her ability to actually show up—maybe she’d make up an
excuse and skip it. So she developed a coping card that she could refer to
in the days leading up to the party:
 Most people aren’t going to be
looking at me; they're going to be
talking and having fun. I’m
expecting too much of myelf. I’m
going to go and enjoy myself. It’s
highly unlikely anyone would
really say or think badly of me, but
if they do, that’s their problem.

How Your thoughts Impact Your confidence

Sasha, the aspiring college student from the beginning of this chapter,
began to recognize the errors in her thinking. She decided to start the
process of applying to a local college. It wasn’t easy. Every time she sat
down to work on her admissions essay, the gremlins of self-doubt popped
into her mind, yelling, “You’ll never be able to do this!” Sasha heard the
words and said, “Thanks, mind, but I’ve got this,” and carried on writing.
On the day she was finally ready to click the submit button on her
online application, Sasha was still anxious. But she was no longer
convinced she’d fail. Drawing on her mindfulness skills, Sasha told
herself, “We’ll see how this goes. It would be wonderful if I got in, but I’m
proud of myself just for trying.” It felt great to know that she had really
“walked her talk”: She had always touted the value of education to her
children, and she had always wanted to better herself. Now, she was really
doing it.
Sasha felt herself growing more self-assured in other areas of her life,
too. When she felt incompetent at her job, she recognized the pangs of
self-recrimination as the words of her inner critic: just thoughts, not
reality. “After all,” Sasha thought, “I am still me.” Deep down, she knew
she had value as a human being, whether or not she ever succeeded in
earning a degree. We all have an inner core that doesn’t care about our
mistakes, our moods, our looks, or our status in society. That part of us
always knows our worth. When, like Sasha, we rise above negative and
unrealistic thinking, we can live authentically as that core self.

Self-Compassion Revisited
Now that you know how to turn down the volume on your inner critic,
remember to add some positivity to your day whenever possible. Here are
some strategies to use self-compassion to help you gain the confidence to
keep pushing toward your goals.

GIVE YOURSELF A BREAK

Sometimes on your path toward your goals, you’re just going to be tapped
out. You’ll make silly mistakes, struggle to concentrate, or just feel too
spent to keep trying. Give yourself permission to have those days. Don’t
worry; they’ll pass. Be kind to yourself the same way you’d be kind to a
loved one, and say, “You did a lot today. Sit back, enjoy a drink and a TV
show, and try again tomorrow.” Everyone needs rest.
What are a few of your favorite ways to recharge after an exhausting
day?
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RECORD YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS

When you’re looking up the mountain at how far you still have to go, it’s
easy to forget how far you’ve already come. But glancing down the slope
you’ve already climbed is an enormous confidence booster. It’s a
reminder: “Hey, if I can make it that far, maybe I really can reach the top!”
Try recording your accomplishments about once a week in a notebook.
Give yourself permission to think small: Maybe you had coffee with
someone in another industry to discuss switching careers, or you stood up
for yourself when your sister made a disparaging remark about you.
Taking those little steps, again and again, is what leads to big change.

IMAGINE YOUR WAY FORWARD

When you’re feeling overwhelmed by a goal, it helps to remember the

adage, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” Try writing
down the steps you’d have to take to be where you want to be. It’s okay if
some of those steps are just big question marks. You’ll fill in those blanks
by researching, talking to people, and gaining experience. For now, just
look at the first step. That’s all you have to do.
Say your goal is to train for a marathon. Some mornings you might
wake up and think, “I can’t do this!” Ask yourself, “What can’t I do? Put
on my running shoes and go outside? That’s all I have to do right now.” If
you’d started first grade by thinking about how hard your senior year of
high school would be, you’d probably be a six-year-old dropout! But by
the time you’d finished 11th grade, the 12th grade didn’t seem so bad.
Have faith that the rungs of the ladder hang together and will get you to
the place you’re trying to go.
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THE FEAR FACTOR: WORKING WITH YOUR THOUGHTS

Confronting negative thoughts often feels like a Sisyphean task. You
keep trying to work with your inner critic, and it just pushes you back
down the hill to start over again. That frustration can turn into fear:
“What if I’m always going to be paralyzed by negative thoughts?”
You might also be afraid that by pushing back against your
negative thoughts, you’re just kidding yourself. If you stop listening
to the voice that says you’ll never be good enough, then you’ll go out
and try something new, and you might fall flat on your face. “See?”
you’ll think. “I should have known I couldn’t do this!”
Write down some of your own fears that arose while you were
reading this chapter.
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---------------------

Now, since I’m preaching realistic thinking in this chapter, I’ll be

honest: Self-doubt will always be a part of your life. (There’s a name
for the small percentage of people who don’t experience any self-
doubt: psychopaths.) But that doesn’t mean your inner critic will
always be in the control tower of your mind. If you keep practicing
the skills you learned in this chapter, little by little, you’ll learn to
keep moving forward despite what Negative Nancy (or Neil) tells
you.
And yes, that means sometimes you’ll mess up. There’s no such
thing as progress without some mistakes here and there. Don’t let the
fear of falling keep you from ever taking your first step.

Chapter Takeaways
Master the art of talking to yourself. Yes, it sounds strange, but you know
better. Having a healthy dialogue with your negative thoughts helps you
poke holes in them, dismiss them when they’re not useful, and step over
them on your merry way to your goals. In the next chapter , you’ll work on
some of the stories you tell yourself that are at the root of some of those
negative thoughts: the core beliefs that shape your self-image.

ACTION ITEMS

Here are some specific actions you can take to implement the lessons and
ideas you learned in this chapter:

1. Some people find it helpful to physically dispose of negative

thoughts. Write down a negative thought on a piece of paper, then cut
it up and throw it in the trash or carefully burn it.
2. Tell someone close to you that you’re trying to reframe your negative
thoughts. Ask them to gently let you know when they catch you
voicing a self-defeating viewpoint.
3. If you’ve started to “name your stories” and you’re noticing themes
around certain repetitive thoughts, write them down. Those themes
will help you identify your core beliefs in the next chapter.
4. Reflect on a time when you had a lot of negative predictions about
how something would go, and then it wound up going just fine. Hold
on to that story the next time your mind is flooding with worries
about a future event.
5. Celebrate your victories! If you push past a swarm of negative
thoughts to take action toward your goals, give yourself a reward.
 CHAPTER SIX

WORK WITH YOUR BELIEFS

“THIS IS HOW HUMANS ARE: WE QUESTION

ALL OUR BELIEFS, EXCEPT FOR THE ONES
THAT WE REALLY BELIEVE IN, AND THOSE
WE NEVER THINK TO QUEST ION.”
—ORSON SCOTT CARD

If you’ve ever been to therapy, you know that a negative thought rarely
stands alone. When you start examining your thinking, you realize it’s just
a branch of a much more deeply rooted tree. You climb downward and
downward, asking yourself, “Why do I think that? Who says? Where is
this coming from?” Finally, you arrive at the base of the tree and have
your breakthrough, recognizing how a tiny seed planted long ago grew to
shape your worldview. The roots of this tree are your negative core beliefs.
For example, when Jasmin’s friends talked about their blissful
relationships, she found herself becoming more and more agitated. She
knew she should feel happy for them, but instead, she just felt alienated.
Her boyfriend criticized her constantly and made her feel like her opinions
were worthless. Jasmin’s friends had told her more than once that she
should move on. But she’d always instantly say, “Oh, no, I could never
leave him.”
 One day, her friends pushed back: “Why not?” they said. “What would
happen if you did?” Jasmin broke down in tears. She’d never admitted this
to anyone, but she really believed that if she broke up with her boyfriend,
she would be alone forever. He always told Jasmin she’d never do better
than him, and she realized she had internalized that message. But, Jasmin’s
friends reminded her, she deserved better. She was just as entitled to love
and respect as anyone else.
Now that Jasmin had dug deep and found her negative core belief, she
was determined to see things differently. That’s what you’ll learn to do in
this chapter.

Revisit Your Goals

Look back at the goals you set in chapter 2 . How do you think learning to
identify and reshape your core beliefs might help you achieve those goals?
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Identifying Your Negative Core Beliefs

Core beliefs are the general principles and assumptions that guide you
through life. They can be positive: “Most people are good,” or, “I can do
anything I set my mind to,” for example. But they can also be self-
limiting, tricking your mind into seeing the world as darker and less full of
possibility than it really is. Core beliefs have a number of potential
origins, including childhood experiences, environmental factors, and your
innate temperament. And while it can be helpful to determine where your
core beliefs came from, you don’t need to pinpoint their origins in order to
identify and uproot them.

COMMON CORE BELIEFS

People with low self-confidence often find that one of the following core
beliefs is at play. If one or more of the items on this list resonate with you,
I’ll show you how to delve deeper into these beliefs later in the chapter.

I don’t belong. Being rejected by peers or even family at an early age

can make you carry an “outsider” identity for years afterward. As an
adult, you might avoid engaging with others for fear of rejection, or
you might swing to the other extreme and become overly concerned
with being the perfect group member.
The world is dangerous. This negative core belief leads to a lot of
worrying and risk avoidance. If you believe there’s evil or misfortune
lurking around every corner, you’re likely to restrict your activities
and seek excessive reassurance to alleviate your anxiety. You also tend
to overestimate the probability of negative outcomes and
underestimate your ability to cope.
I am a failure/I’m not good enough. A persistent feeling of not
measuring up can often be traced back to overcritical parents, bullying
from classmates, or a tendency to compare yourself to others. This
belief can lead people to push themselves too hard to overcompensate.
It also drives impostor syndrome, the constant feeling that you’re a
fraud and you’ll be unmasked any day now. People who see themselves
as failures can also be prone to avoidance or procrastination, which
allows them to say, “I didn’t fail; I never really tried.”
I have to be perfect. A cousin of “I’m not good enough,” this core
belief also leads people to drive themselves until their health or
relationships suffer. Perfectionists have unrealistically high
expectations and tend to focus on their flaws and missteps. They may
have trouble taking life less seriously and often have the sense that
there is too little time.

LOOK FOR THEMES

Look through your records of your automatic negative thoughts. Do you

notice any themes?
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See if any of what you noted matches up with the list below. Check
whether any of these beliefs feel correct to you, even if you understand
intellectually that they are unrealistic.

□ I’m not good enough.

□ I can’t get anything right.
□ I’m worthless.
□ I’m a failure.
□ I am abnormal.
□ I’m not wanted.
□ I am unlovable.
□ I don’t fit in.
□ I’m all alone.
□ I’m not important.
□ I’m not as good as other people.
□ I’m sure to be rejected.
□ I am weak.
□ I don’t measure up to others.
□ I am unsuccessful.
□ I can’t handle anything.
□ I’m a loser.
□ I can’t make a mistake.
□ I have to be perfect.
□ My needs are not important.
□ I’m not a worthwhile person.
□ Other theme I noticed: ____________

FOLLOW THE PATH

“Following the path” of irrational thoughts is a process in which you ask

yourself, or a therapist or trusted friend asks you, “What would happen
then?”
Most of the employees in Claire’s department were invited to a
colleague’s weekend baby shower. Claire kept hearing people talking about
it, and she was hurt that she wasn’t invited. She brought it up with her
therapist, who asked simple questions to help Claire follow the path back
to an untrue core belief.

They don’t like me.

What would happen then? What does that mean?

I’ll never have good friends.

What would happen then? What does that mean?

I’ll never have a relationship.

What would happen then? What does that mean?

I’m unlovable.

Without following the chain of her thoughts, Claire never would have
realized that her fixation on her coworker’s baby shower really wasn’t
about the party itself. It was about a deep-down belief that she wasn’t
worthy of love or inclusion.
Try it yourself with one of the negative thoughts you noticed while
monitoring your inner critic in chapter 5 .

My thought:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What would happen then? What does that mean?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What would happen then? What does that mean?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Repeat this process of questioning yourself until you arrive at what feels
like the root: your negative core belief.
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DEVELOP A BETTER SENSE OF SELF

Knowing your own values and goals goes a long way toward
developing a healthy sense of self, allowing you to be resilient after
setbacks and resistant to pressure from those around you. But as you
dig into your core beliefs, you might find there are ways you’ve set
your authentic self aside in order to live by others’ expectations. Here
are some ideas to get in touch with who you really are.

Set boundaries. If you have trouble saying no, it’s easy to end up
doing a whole bunch of things that have nothing to do with what you
love or value.
Get comfortable with being alone. Maybe you really want to see a
certain movie or visit a certain city, but you just don’t think anyone
will go with you. Don’t let that stop you!
Avoid comparison. Try to catch yourself when you feel like you
don’t measure up to someone else, and remember that we’re all on
different paths in life.
Know what motivates you. Maybe signing up for an 8 a.m. spin
class just doesn’t make you any more likely to exercise, and you
know it. That’s fine! Structure your life around what makes you stick
with a goal, not what works for a friend.
Be a rebel. Now, you don’t have to flout expectations all the time, or
even most of the time. But if there’s something everyone else is
doing, and it just doesn’t match up with what you believe in or care
about, have the courage to go another way.

USE YOUR FEELINGS AS CLUES

Although much of the work of identifying and changing core beliefs

involves using your mind, you must also allow your emotions to inform
the process, or it will be incomplete. Change actually takes place in that
“aha” moment when your feelings click with your thinking.
Unfortunately, many people hold mistaken ideas about emotions.
Sometimes people are afraid of their feelings. Deep down they may have
what seem to be very powerful and overwhelming feelings of fear, rage, or
despair. They may assume they need to keep these feelings buried so that
they aren’t destroyed by them.
What about you? Look at this list below and check any that apply.
(And don’t worry; you’re not alone if you check several, or even all, of
these.)

□ If I allow myself to experience my feelings, I will lose control.

□ Emotions—such as anger, fear, and hurt—are harmful or dangerous.
□ If I allow myself to feel something, I’ll get stuck and won’t be able to
move on.
□ Nice people don’t get angry, or good people don’t feel envy.
□ I don’t want to be known as a drama queen.
□ If others know how I really feel, they’ll think I’m weak.

Although you may have been taught otherwise, feelings are important,
not dangerous, and not inherently illogical. Your feelings likely developed
for very specific reasons. For example, if you received harsh criticism as a
child, you may be unable to allow yourself any feelings you perceive as
risky—those that might force you to experience criticism or rejection
again. You may be extremely vulnerable to the slightest complaint from a
partner or coworker. This was a useful protective strategy when you were
young and mostly defenseless. However, now that you’re grown, these
intense reactions can prove mysterious to yourself and others.
The key point is that an intense, seemingly out-of-the-blue emotional
reaction is an important clue that a core belief is at work. If you can get a
whiff of what’s going on, it sets you up for that “aha” moment when you
have a choice, a chance to react differently, and an opportunity to revise
your belief.
The simple act of noting a feeling and naming it can be
transformational. Ah, there’s anger. Ah, there’s fear. There’s something
about putting a label to a feeling that takes the edge away, making it softer
and easier to handle. The lowered intensity of your reaction allows you to
reassess your beliefs. For example, is it really true that nice people don’t
feel anger? Is it true that my anger will overtake me?

Establishing New Core Beliefs

How many times has life forced you to reevaluate what you believed?
Maybe you were dead-set on believing your ex’s new spouse was a terrible
person, until they won you over by being a truly great stepparent to your
kids. Maybe you were sure you would never learn to like Brussels sprouts,
and then a good recipe changed your mind. Or maybe you had a more
significant shift in beliefs, such as leaving your religion or switching
political parties after you started to learn more about the world.
All of these belief shifts required a little bit of self-persuasion. You
had to see, hear, or—in the case of the Brussels sprouts—taste the
evidence in order to consider taking a new stance. The same is true for
uprooting your negative core beliefs about yourself and supplanting them
with positive ones. I’ll show you how to look at your self-limiting beliefs
from new angles until your mind starts to change.

CONSIDER YOUR PAST

You might roll your eyes at the idea of examining your childhood, but the
truth is that negative core beliefs can often be traced back to your early
days. Even when parents are trying their best, sometimes a mismatch in
temperaments can leave a kid feeling left out or judged by the rest of the
family. The same is true in peer groups. After you leave the nest, even if
you find a supportive chosen family, you might hold on to untrue beliefs
about yourself that formed in your childhood. For example, maybe you
were an artistic child, but your parents discouraged you from pursuing that
path because they didn’t see it as sensible. Today, you might tell yourself
that creativity is less valuable than making money or is incompatible with
being a serious person. Those beliefs from your past are affecting your
actions in the present.
 Here’s an exercise. Look at the list of core beliefs you identified
earlier in this chapter. See if you can find messages in your past that echo
those feelings, whether implicit or explicit. For instance, maybe your dad
never showed up at your baseball games, making you think, “I’m not
important,” whether or not he ever said so. Or maybe your mother left the
family when you were little, and now you think, “I’m not worthy of love.”
Whatever it is, let your feelings flow in the space provided.
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LOOK FOR EVIDENCE

Beliefs come in pairs. If one of your internal messages is, “I’m not good
enough,” you can begin to starve that belief by feeding its benevolent twin,
“I am good enough.” Look for evidence to build up the good belief: the
ways your contributions made a difference, the obstacles you overcame,
the people who love and support you. Slowly, you’ll begin to draw your
mind’s attention away from the flaws and failures that you mistakenly
think disqualify you from your dreams.

Try it below.

My negative core belief:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The opposite, positive belief:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Evidence for the positive belief:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Review this list whenever you need a pick-me-up. But don’t stop there.
Keep bolstering the list of evidence with new experiences. This works
especially well when your limiting belief says, “I can’t.” Maybe you think,
“I’m just not athletic. My friends want me to join their recreational soccer
league, but I know I’ll embarrass myself.” Well, why not try it? After a
few weeks, you might prove yourself wrong. And then, forever after,
you’ll know that you’re capable of far more than you might believe before
you try.

CONDUCT MINI EXPERIMENTS

Think back to the science classes you took in school. Remember the steps
for conducting an experiment? First, you state your hypothesis—in other
words, what do you think will happen? Then, you design some type of
procedure to test the hypothesis. Next, you record and examine the results
to see if your hypothesis is supported or if alternative explanations should
be considered. You can also use this approach to develop new core beliefs.
Kiara, recently divorced, was working on developing the confidence to
do more things on her own. Over the years, she’d grown dependent on her
partner for all her social needs. For example, she realized she had never
been to a movie by herself, much less eaten in a restaurant alone. During
one of our sessions, she talked about a documentary she really wanted to
see, but said there was no way she’d have the nerve to go alone. When I
asked her why, she said, “No one goes to the movies alone. It’s all couples
or groups of friends.” When I pressed a bit further, we got to the belief
that only losers go places alone.
I didn’t think Kiara would simply listen to me if I told her I thought
some people went to the movies alone. Instead, I asked her if she’d be
willing to try a little experiment. We devised a plan whereby she arrived at
the theater several minutes late for the movie she wanted to see. She didn’t
think she could tolerate standing in line or waiting in the lobby by herself.
By going a little late, she could miss some of the crowds. After she had her
ticket and was inside, she was to sit in the back row on an end, and she’d
be free to leave after she collected her “data.”
Kiara’s job was to count the number of people sitting by themselves. If
the light was such that she could notice anything about these people, she
was also to jot down her observations. Did they look like losers? Were
they acting like losers? Were they doing anything that called attention to
themselves? Or were they just sitting there watching the movie?
 When I saw Kiara for her next session, I crossed my fingers that there
were in fact a few people there by themselves. Sure enough, Kiara had
counted six people who were watching the movie alone. She laughed when
I asked her if any of them looked like losers. She said, “I don’t know. I got
so into the movie I stopped paying attention to them.” Kiara anticipated
my next thought when she added, “I guess since I wasn’t paying attention
to them, no one would be paying attention to me.”
This proved to be a powerful method to shift Kiara’s belief and give
her the confidence to start living again after her divorce.

FOCUS ON THE GOOD

Of course, humans are emotional creatures, and sometimes trying to be

rational about your beliefs just doesn’t work. That’s when it’s time to
appeal to your feelings.
Focus again on the positive flip side of one of your negative beliefs.
Think about a time when the positive belief really felt true, no matter how
fleeting the feeling was. For instance, if your negative belief is, “I’m not
good enough,” recall a time when you did feel “good enough.” Soak in that
feeling for a few minutes, and remind yourself that you can and will feel
that way again.
Allow yourself to accept new evidence of the good belief, even when
you feel like dismissing it. Maybe you landed an interview for your dream
job, and your instinct is to tell yourself, “Well, this is just a fluke. They’ll
never hire me.” Instead of making that leap to negativity, take a moment to
truly recognize and celebrate that the employer was impressed by your
credentials and wants to meet you. Keeping your perceived flaws in
perspective is key to recalibrating your belief system toward realistic,
self-compassionate views.

YOU ARE EQUAL

“CONFIDENCE IS JUST ENTITLEMENT.

ENTITLEMENT HAS GOTTEN A BAD RAP
 BECAUSE IT’S USED ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY
FOR THE USELESS CHILDREN OF THE RICH . . .
BUT ENTITLEMENT IN AND OF ITSELF ISN’T
SO BAD. ENTITLEMENT IS SIMPLY THE
BELIEF THAT YOU DESERVE SOMETHING.”
—MINDY KALING

One of the fundamental beliefs underlying confidence is, “My worth as a

person is equal to everyone else’s.” That doesn’t mean you don’t have to
work for what you want, and it certainly doesn’t mean life divides up its
rewards evenly. But it does mean you have the same right as anyone else to
stand up for yourself, pursue your dreams, enjoy your life, and make a
difference in the way that’s most meaningful to you.
Sometimes it’s almost impossible to picture yourself up there with
those you admire most. You think, “What so-and-so does is wonderful, but
me, I could never do that. I just don’t have the right stuff.” When
messages like that run through your head, don’t just let them pass. Stop
them. Question them. What is the “right stuff”?
Maybe you think you’re not suited for a role in life because you don’t
fit a certain mold: You don’t come from the “right” background, you don’t
run in the “right” crowd, you don’t look the “right” way, or you don’t have
the “right” personality. You’re counting yourself out before you even start,
creating limitations that might prove not to exist at all if you tested them.
To be sure, some dreams do expire. A 50-year-old who’s never played
baseball isn’t going to make it to the majors. And even when the potential
for success is there, breaking the mold can be really tough—ask anyone
who’s been the only woman or person of color in the room, for instance.
But don’t be the one who rejects your dream. Be the one who continues to
push for it even when other people tell you that you’ll never get there.
With hard work, you will.

THE FEAR FACTOR: WORKING WITH YOUR BELIEFS

 Questioning beliefs that have long seemed like fundamental truths is
scary stuff. Earlier in this chapter, when you worked on finding
evidence to support positive beliefs, you might have felt a little
overwhelmed. That’s because a negative belief can be a nice excuse
to stay inside your comfort zone: “Well, I’ll never succeed, so there’s
no point in trying!” When you start to let go of those beliefs, you
might suddenly feel vulnerable. Now there’s no excuse not to try, and
trying might mean failing.
Jot down any fears or trepidation you felt while working through
this chapter.
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It’s natural to resist adopting positive beliefs because you’re

afraid of getting burned once you “buy in.” But your negative core
beliefs are hurting you, too. They keep you trapped, telling you the lie
that no risk is ever worthwhile. Ask yourself whether you’d really
prefer to spend your life locked in a tower like Rapunzel, avoiding
risks but never knowing what it feels like to reach your full potential.
Now, you won’t uproot your negative core beliefs overnight.
Some days you’ll feel pretty hopeful, and on others, all the old self-
limiting stories will creep back in. That’s perfectly normal.
Remember to look at the big picture and see all the progress you’ve
made. Then, get back out there and try again.

Chapter Takeaways
Now you’re well on your way to reshaping your view of yourself and the
world in a way that allows you to walk through life with greater
confidence that things will go well for you. In the next chapter , you’ll
zero in on your fears. Using the exposure therapy tools you learned about
in chapter 1 , you’ll set a plan to begin conquering scary situations, one
small step at a time.
ACTION ITEMS

Here are some specific actions you can take to implement the lessons and
ideas you learned in this chapter:

1. Look over old journals or letters from 10 or 20 years ago. Were there
any self-limiting beliefs you had back then that you came to find out
weren’t true? Think about how worthwhile it was to prove yourself
wrong.
2. Create a visual reminder of evidence of the positive beliefs you’re
working to build. This could be as simple as putting photos on your
fridge that remind you of goals you’ve reached and people who love
you. Or, if you want to put in a little more time, you could make a
whole collage reminding you that you are loved, capable, big-hearted,
and so on.
3. Read a book or watch a movie about someone who pushed past
limiting beliefs (their own or others’) to achieve something great.
Some suggestions: Sisters in Law: How Sandra Day O’Connor and
Ruth Bader Ginsburg Went to the Supreme Court and Changed the
World by Linda Hirshman; The Story of My Life by Helen Keller;
Legally Blonde by Amanda Brown (also a movie and a musical); and
The Blind Side , written and directed by John Lee Hancock.
4. Think about the people in your life who tend to support positive
beliefs and see if you can spend more time with them. Similarly, if
there are people who consistently make you feel negatively about
yourself or the world, try to limit your time with them.
5. Consider how the news and entertainment you consume might be
affecting your beliefs. For example, if you’re trying to stop thinking
danger is lurking around every corner, you might try cutting back on
true-crime dramas and TV news.
 CHAPTER SEVEN

FACE YOUR FEARS

“FEAR KEEPS US FOCUSED ON THE PAST OR

WORRIED ABOUT THE FUTURE. IF WE CAN
ACKNOWLEDGE OUR FEAR, WE CAN REALIZE
THAT RIGHT NOW WE ARE OKAY. RIGHT NOW,
TODAY, WE ARE STILL ALIVE, AND OUR
BODIES ARE WORKING MARVELOUSLY. OUR
EYES CAN STILL SEE THE BEAUTIFUL SKY.
OUR EARS CAN STILL HEAR THE VOICES OF
OUR LOVED ONES.”
—THICH NHAT HANH

You can tell yourself, “There’s nothing to be afraid of.” But words aren’t
enough. Anyone who’s ever tried to tell a frightened three-year-old that
there are no monsters in the closet knows the futility of mere words. You
have to show the child it’s safe by shining a flashlight in the closet, poking
all around, encouraging the child to look in, and so on. For beliefs to fully
change, they must be disproved on a very basic, gut level.
That’s what we’ll do in this chapter. We’ll shine a light on what scares
you and give you practical tools and strategies to look fear in the eye, so
you can move forward with greater self-confidence. I’ll walk you through
it step-by-step; remember from chapter 2 that I’m not going to throw you
into the deep end of the pool not knowing how to swim. Also, I think
you’ll find that with the strategies you’ve gathered over the past few
chapters, facing your fears will be easier than you imagine.
Facing Fear
Remember that fear is a natural and normal part of our evolutionary
heritage. We need a fear response so we know not to run out into traffic or
put our hand on a hot stove. Of course, problems arise when our fears are
unfounded or exaggerated. Learning to face our fears can be powerful,
especially if it’s done in a systematic way, such as with exposure therapy.

HOW IT WORKS

I typically describe exposure therapy to people using a lighthearted

example to diminish any anxiety they may have about the process. You
may remember a cartoon called Rugrats , which aired from 1991 through
2004. The show addressed common childhood experiences through humor
and understanding.
In the episode “The Slide,” the ever fretful Chuckie Finster longs to go
down the slide and have fun like all the other kids at the park. But when he
looks up, the slide appears menacing. His perpetual nemesis, Angelica,
makes fun of him and calls him a “scaredy cat.” Fortunately, Chuckie has a
good friend in Tommy Pickles. Tommy takes Chuckie to the smartest kid
on the block, Susie, who agrees to help. Under Susie’s guidance, the
neighborhood kids help Chuckie face his fears by gradually exposing him
to heights, going back and forth in a tire swing, having a fan blowing hard
in his face, and traveling fast in a wagon. As he gets used to the physical
sensations connected to heights and moving at a high rate of speed, Susie
instructs him to tell himself repeatedly, “I’m a big, brave dog!”
Of course, the episode ends with Chuckie triumphantly climbing up
the slide and enjoying the trip back down. When the other kids ask how he
overcame his fears, he answers, “I just did. That’s all.”

WHY IT WORKS

One way exposure works is through a process called habituation . This

means that the more you become accustomed to something, the less it
feels like a big deal. It’s more like a habit that is simply a part of your life.
Habituation is at work when you no longer notice the sound of leaf
blowers in the fall, or that rattling refrigerator ceases to annoy you.
Another way exposure therapy works is by helping you shift your
expectations about what will happen in a given situation. You learn that
the chances of something awful happening are pretty slim, and if
something awful did happen, you could cope. Comments I hear from
people after they successfully complete exposure therapy include:

• “I can function when I’m feeling anxious.”

• “Anxiety goes away with time. It doesn’t last forever.”
• “I still don’t like anxiety, but I know it’s not going to kill me.”
• “I’m stronger than I thought I was.”

CREATING A HIERARCHY

Merima immigrated from Bosnia nearly five years ago with her husband,
Esad. Esad works at a grocery store and they have two children, who are
now in school. Merima learned to drive about a year after coming to the
United States, but she didn’t like it. Esad assured her she was a safe and
competent driver, but she still felt anxious about her abilities and avoided
it whenever possible. She told him she didn’t have much need to drive when
the children were young and at home. Esad took her to run errands on the
weekends. However, now the kids were in school and she yearned to
become more independent. She wanted to volunteer at the children’s
school and be able to run her own errands during the week.
Merima worked with a counselor through a nearby international
center who knew about exposure therapy. Together they constructed a
hierarchy: a detailed plan to get Merima driving again. She already knew
how to drive, but she needed to gain confidence in her abilities and get
over her fear.

When creating a hierarchy, the trick is to break your fear into a series
of steps, with the first few steps being mildly challenging and later steps
increasing in difficulty. It’s a list that is rank-ordered by the amount of
distress each step would lead to if you completed it.
Below you’ll see Merima’s exposure hierarchy.
Mild-Challenge Activities
(Anxiety level would rise to no more than a 3 on a 10-point scale, with 10
being the worst possible anxiety.)

Sit in driver’s seat of car.

Pull out of my driveway.
Drive around the block with husband.
Drive around the block alone.

Moderate-Challenge Activities
(Anxiety level would rise to a level of 4 to 7, with 10 being the worst
possible anxiety.)

Drive in the neighborhood for 10 minutes with husband.

Drive in neighborhood for 10 minutes alone.
Turn left on a residential street with husband.
Turn left on a residential street alone.

High-Challenge Activities

(Anxiety level would rise to a level of 8 to 10, with 10 being the worst
possible anxiety.)

Drive on city streets in light traffic with husband.

Drive on city streets in light traffic alone.
Drive on city streets in moderate traffic with husband.
Drive on city streets in moderate traffic alone.

Notice how Merima’s plan starts with a small challenge, sitting in the
car. You might think, “That is so easy!” But for Merima, this was enough
to elicit some mild anxiety, so it was a good starting point. Starting with
small steps not only maximizes her chance for success but also motivates
her to continue when the exposures get a little tougher.
Use the My Exposure Hierarchy form to write out your own plan.
Remember, this is your plan, your goals. Notice that Merima didn’t have
on her hierarchy anything about highway driving. She may decide to add
that later, but for now, she doesn’t see that as crucial to her independence.
Aim to strike a balance, making a plan that will help you accomplish your
goals without needlessly overwhelming you.

My Exposure Hierarchy
Mild-Challenge Activities
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Moderate-Challenge Activities
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High-Challenge Activities
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HOW TO CARRY OUT YOUR EXPOSURES

1. Start with the first item on your hierarchy, one in the mild-challenge
range.
2. Enter the situation and carry out the exposure (for example, Merima
sits in the driver’s seat of the car).
3. Your anxiety level will start to rise. This is a sign that the exposure is
working. Allow yourself to feel the sensations, and realize that
anxiety won’t harm you; you can tolerate it.
4. You can use your breathing techniques and a coping statement to help
you, but you don’t want to let them become distractions. The goal is
to learn that anxiety isn’t dangerous, and you can’t do that if you
don’t let yourself fully experience the symptoms.
5. Stay in the situation until your anxiety level starts to decline. If you
leave the situation when your anxiety level is too high, it reinforces
the fear. The general idea is that you want to remain in the situation
 long enough to know that anxiety doesn’t last indefinitely and that
you can handle the situation.
6. Repeat the item until you have the sense that you could do it again
without major difficulty. This will likely require many practice
sessions. Then you can move to the next item on the hierarchy.
7. Write a record of your exposure sessions on the My Exposure Log.

Note: If you find that any particular exposure session isn’t going well
—perhaps your anxiety is getting higher than you thought it would when
you created your hierarchy—it is okay to occasionally stop the session
early. You don’t want to make this a habit, but you do want to feel in
control of the pace of your progress. Nothing is lost; simply start again on
an easier item and work your way back up.
Once you get going, you’ll likely find that it progressively takes less
time to complete an exposure session. This is because you take with you
what you’ve learned from one session to another. For example, by the time
Merima got to her medium-challenge exposures of driving in the
neighborhood, her body had already calmed down and she wasn’t nearly as
shaky behind the wheel as she was simply backing out of the driveway.
My Exposure Log

Wha Time
Challenge Level (Mild, Anxiety Level at Anxiety Level at
tI Spen
Moderate, or High) Start (1-10) Finish (1-10)
Did t

Other tips for successful exposure therapy:

 Practice frequently. If you let too much time go by between exposure
sessions, you can lose motivation and momentum.
Minimize distractions. As I mentioned above, it’s fine to use your
breathing techniques and a simple coping statement, such as, “I can
tolerate anxiety; it’s not that bad.” But if you find yourself engaging in
a lot of other rituals that distract you from fully engaging with the
exposure item, you’re not getting the full benefit.
Give yourself credit. No matter how one particular exposure session
goes, you deserve to feel good about your efforts. Just like Chuckie,
you’re a big, brave dog!

IMAGINAL EXPOSURE

Sometimes you may benefit from imaginal exposure, a variation of

habituating yourself to your fears in real life. The principles are the same;
the only exception is that you’ll carry out your exposures in your mind.
Imaginal exposure can sideswipe some problems people may encounter in
traditional exposure therapy. For example, what if Merima became
extremely anxious simply sitting in a car? You could break it down even
further, having her approach the car, then stand 10 feet away, and so on. Or
she could desensitize herself by imagining the scene first. Typically, you
write out a brief script, including as many details as possible about the
situation, especially details about the things you fear will happen. You
include any troubling physical sensations, thoughts you may experience,
and what you imagine other people’s reactions will be, if applicable. Once
you get comfortable doing the exposure in your mind, you can switch to
doing it in real life.

CONFIDENCE CRUTCHES
Many people employ habits to bolster self-confidence that work in
the short run but backfire in the long run. Psychologists call these
safety behaviors or partial avoidance behaviors . In other words,
someone may go into a feared situation but rely on a crutch to control
the resulting anxiety. See if you relate to any of these examples:
 • Sitting in the back of the class or conference room, where you
won’t have to interact.
• Going to a party only if you can drink ahead of time.
• Using substances excessively to cope with feared situations (self-
medicating).
• Never arriving early for a meeting so you can avoid small talk.
• Avoiding eye contact by mindlessly fidgeting with your phone.
• Engaging in excessive research or overpreparing to make sure
nothing goes wrong.
• Always having a companion with you.
• Keeping your eyes glued to your notes when you’re giving a
speech.

The problem with these behaviors is that you think nothing bad
happened because you used the crutch. You don’t have a chance to
prove to yourself that you could succeed on your own.

Learn to Handle Fear of Failure

One of the best confidence-building strategies is to treat mistakes as
learning experiences. I know it sounds like something you’d see on a
sappy motivational poster, but there’s no better way to create a rich and
fulfilling life than to get good at failing. So what are the keys to failing
well?

ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR FEELINGS

Although intellectually we know failing can prove to be a learning

experience, it’s still no fun. When a situation doesn’t go as planned, what’s
your first instinct? Check any or all that apply.

□ I typically look for someone or something to blame.

□ I tend to blame myself.
□ I avoid thinking about what happened.
□ I overeat, overspend, overuse substances, binge-watch TV, and so on.

It’s natural to want to avoid uncomfortable feelings. By now you

probably remember that avoidance leads to more suffering. In addition,
avoiding your feelings can actually lead to less effective processing of the
experience, meaning you don’t learn as much from it.
It takes bravery not to numb out—to feel the immediacy and rawness
of the experience. And sure, sometimes it makes sense to take a break and
engage in a distraction if you’re overwhelmed. That’s just good self-care.
But don’t stay away too long; know when it’s time to come home to your
feelings.

DON’T LABEL YOURSELF AS A FAILURE

The fact that you made a mistake does not mean you are a failure as a
human being. Making a mistake is a specific behavior or event. Telling
yourself that you are a failure is a very global self-judgment. Notice this
thought progression:

I made several mistakes on an exam.

I failed the exam.
I am a failure.

Instead, a healthier way of looking at this would be:

I made several mistakes on the exam.

I failed the exam.
I need to talk to the professor and make a plan.

Think back to a time you “failed” at something. Can you rewrite the
story so that you don’t condemn yourself as a human being?
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KEEP YOUR SENSE OF HUMOR

A few months ago, my husband attended a workshop for psychologists on
how to handle giving expert testimony in court. Most people become quite
anxious at the thought of testifying in court, and one of the goals of the
presentation was to familiarize the audience with how to handle questions
that might trip them up. The presenter, a distinguished forensic
psychologist who had decades of court testimony under his belt, said that
he’s still asked questions that he has no idea how to answer. Previously
serious in nature, the presenter threw up his arms and exclaimed, “What
can I say? I’m a flawed human being!” The nervous psychologists all
laughed with relief. I thought this was such a great story. Of course, even
experts are human. It’s become one of my go-to reminders to myself when
I’m feeling anxious about a mistake: “Hey, I’m a flawed human being!” I
tell myself this, and then I can quickly move on to assess what, if
anything, I need to do to rectify the mistake.

Set Yourself Up to Win

Tackling your fears as a means of developing your self-confidence is a big
undertaking, but there are a few important things you can do to improve
your chances of success from the start. Here are a few tips that will help
you use your own motivational tendencies to your advantage.

DEVELOP GOOD HABITS

Many of the techniques in this chapter require dedication. Developing

effective habits can pay big dividends in making your hard work pay off.
One way to develop any habit is called habit stacking . The formula goes
like this:

After I ________, I will ________.

For example,

After I brush my teeth, I will meditate.

Think of a habit associated with this chapter that you’d like to incorporate
into your day. Use the formula above and write out your plan.

After I ________________________________, I will

________________________________.

You pair an activity you do without thought with the new habit you
want to develop. With consistency, the association will become strong and
you’ll naturally move from one activity to another with more ease.
Another aspect you can add to habit stacking is chaining. This means
that you try not to “break the chain” by skipping a day. For example, you
might mark on your calendar every day you do the desired habit and try
not to skip any day. This can be quite motivating for some people.
However, for others, if they miss a day, they may feel they’ve blown it and
quit. Know yourself and decide whether or not this tip will work for you.
Another important aspect of developing good habits is scheduling.
Make note of any items in this chapter that you want to include in your
schedule and write them down, whether on a paper calendar, your phone’s
calendar app, or any other scheduling software you use. Most experts will
tell you to do your hardest tasks in the morning, as willpower fades and
energy dwindles throughout the day. But if you’re not a morning person,
this may not be the best timing for you.
One last tip is to set up your environment to support your goals. For
example, if you’re trying to incorporate yoga into your routine, have your
yoga mat set up where you will see it. You can also try pairing it with
something you enjoy. I’ve known people who take their morning coffee
and simply sit on their yoga mat. After they’ve enjoyed their coffee, they
are already on the mat, and more often than not, they do their yoga routine.
Often, the hardest part of any habit is simply starting.

CHANGE YOUR STRESS MIND-SET

When you tackle a new project, face a feared situation, or wade out of your
comfort zone, your body is going to register it as a stressor, even though
you may be doing it to build self-confidence. We’ve been bombarded with
messages that stress is bad for you: It can cause all sorts of health
problems from heart disease to cancer, not to mention anxiety, depression,
and just plain old burnout. A book by psychologist Kelly McGonigal has
called these long-held beliefs about stress into question. In The Upside of
Stress , she shares scores of research studies that show how stress can
benefit you if you have the right mind-set.
According to the research, stress usually indicates that something that
matters to you is at stake. Of course, stress can feel terrible if you view the
situation as a threat, even when the situation isn’t life or death. Take
moving for instance. You might say to yourself, “I’m stressed about
moving to a new city. If we don’t find a good neighborhood and make a lot
of new friends, I’ll be miserable!” But if you think back to the values work
you did in chapter 2 , you can see how the stress is signaling an
opportunity to buckle down, use all your resources, and rise to the
occasion.
First, use your mindfulness skills to notice the stress without judging
it. Next, ask yourself what’s at stake that matters to you. How does it tie
into your values? Maybe the move will be a perfect opportunity to live
your values of providing a better life for your family and contributing to a
community of like-minded people. Keeping that values-driven answer in
mind, tell yourself the stressful situation is a challenge , not a threat.
Remind yourself that you have everything you need to prepare for the
move and establish yourself successfully.
I encourage you to use effective stress management techniques, such
as deep breathing and realistic self-talk, to face any of your confidence
challenges. But use these techniques to help you feel more comfortable as
you pursue your valued goals—not in a fearful attempt to get rid of stress
because stress is bad for you.

SEEK OUT SUPPORT

The type of social support your ancestors may have known—one in which
bonds were formed based on kinship, geography, or religious ideology—
may not work for you. Although these types of bonds had many strengths,
they also had weaknesses, such as rigidity and exclusivity. In the past, if
you didn’t fit a particular mold, you may have been ostracized from the
group.
 Nowadays, you may have to deliberately develop a support system.
This is your chance to gather your own unique group of people to walk this
path with you. If you’re an introvert, this may sound daunting. You may be
thinking to yourself, “I can’t go up to someone and ask them to be part of
my support system!” Don’t worry, I don’t expect you to do that. What you
can do is be open to opportunities that naturally arise and be willing to risk
putting yourself in new situations to meet people.
Look for people who can serve different roles in your life:

□ Someone who can pump you up when you’re feeling down.

□ Someone to provide emotional support and a shoulder to cry on.
□ Someone to give you honest feedback in a helpful way.
□ Someone who can provide practical information and support.

Add any others you think are important:

□ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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□ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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□ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Prepare, Prepare, Prepare

No one doubts that preparation underlies any successful endeavor.
Whether it’s giving a speech or playing in a band, you simply can’t
perform well without consistent and deliberate practice. Here’s a game
plan for honing your practice sessions and developing self-confidence:

1. Determine what skill or set of skills you need to practice. If you’re

concerned about your social skills, ask yourself, “What is it that’s
missing?” Do you find you’re lacking in topics to spark conversation?
Or do you have plenty to talk about, but you come across as
 expressionless or aloof, leaving others to wonder if you’re interested
and paying attention? In that case, you need to practice nonverbal
communication skills. If you’re preparing for a presentation, maybe
you most need to work on an engaging opening or how to handle a Q
and A session.
2. Experiment with the new skill. Sticking with the nonverbal
communication example, experimenting might mean practicing in
front of a mirror or having yourself videotaped. Some people benefit
from exaggerating their expressions at first, later finding a natural
middle ground. Although it might be a little intimidating, asking
someone for feedback might help.
3. Use visualization to prepare for the best-case scenario, the worst-case
scenario, and the most likely scenario. Imagining an undesirable
outcome and realizing you’d survive provides good stress
inoculation.
4. Practice in the actual setting if possible. For example, if you’re
giving a presentation, can you get into the venue ahead of time to
scope out the setup?
5. It is likely that the skills you need to practice will change over time.
As you master one area, a new one will emerge as needing focus.
6. Once you’ve prepared, let go of the outcome.

Be Patient with Yourself

Personal growth takes more time than we anticipate, and most of us aren’t
taught to develop patience. Marketing and advertising are partly to blame:
We’re sold on the idea that the quick fix is the norm. Even books such as
this one, in an attempt to present things as simply as possible, may
unwittingly give the impression that change is a neat and tidy process. In
reality, when I’m working with someone on exposure therapy, we may
refine their hierarchy multiple times. Unexpected setbacks occur.
Keep in mind, too, that most of us spiral through the same issues
throughout our lives. This is not meant to discourage you but to normalize
and validate the idea that life is hard. We’re often presented with similar
challenges over and over. Each time we confront our issues and fears, we
hopefully progress, but we’re never really done. Learning, growing, and
changing are lifelong processes.
Patience can be cultivated in small situations in everyday life:

• When you’re stuck in a long line at the grocery store.

• When traffic is not moving as fast as you’d like.
• When your child is taking “too long” to put on shoes.
• When you’re waiting for an email response.

When you’re in a situation that’s trying your patience, consider it

practice for bigger challenges. Use it as an opportunity to do a brief
mindfulness practice. Make eye contact with someone and realize you’re
in this together. Mentally run through a list of things for which you’re
grateful. And if you’re still frustrated, be kind to yourself. Allow yourself
to feel the frustration, notice where you’re tensing in your body, and try to
soften those muscles just a tiny bit.

Make a Commitment
Facing your fears can initially be daunting, but by now you’ve learned
some doable ways to make it manageable. Still, it can be easy to get
sidetracked with your busy day-to-day life. Making a commitment can
strengthen your resolve and formalize your efforts. To begin, remind
yourself of the benefits of facing your fears. Merima, the Bosnian
immigrant with the driving phobia you met earlier, wrote the following
benefits of being able to drive:

• I’ll be more independent. I can go places without asking my husband

to take me.
• I’ll model for my children that they can deal with challenges head-on.
• I’ll feel proud of myself for accomplishing this goal.

Remind yourself of the benefits of facing your fear:

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Next, anticipate what might get in the way of keeping your

commitment. Possibilities include emotions, negative self-talk, poor
habits, or lack of support. Jot down any potential obstacles you might
encounter. After that, write down a potential solution. For example:

Potential obstacle: No time without the kids around to practice my

exposures.
Possible solution: Offer to exchange childcare with a neighborhood
mom.

Now you grab a pen and try it out.

Potential obstacle:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Possible solution:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Potential obstacle:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Possible solution:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Potential obstacle:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Possible solution:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now, write down a realistic commitment that takes into account the
benefits you’ve listed as well as any potential obstacles. For example, you
might commit to practicing your exposures three times a week for 30
minutes at a time. Or you might commit more generally to practicing the
exercises in this book for 30 minutes a day.

My realistic commitment is:

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“THE BIGGEST COMMITMENT YOU MUST

KEEP IS YOUR COMMITMENT TO YOURSELF.”
—NEALE DONALD WALSCH

THE FEAR FACTOR: FACING YOUR FEARS

It goes without saying that facing your fears is bound to bring on a lot
of, well, fear! But it’s important to sort through any resistance you
felt while familiarizing yourself with the concepts in this chapter. For
instance, maybe you’ve had a bad experience with a family member
or friend who thought the best way to “cure” you of a fear was to
force you to face it all at once. Even though that’s not the same as the
gradual exposure you learned about in this chapter, you may be
turned off of any strategy involving confronting your fears.
Or maybe you recognized your own habits in the sidebar
confidence crutches , but you just don’t know how you’re supposed to
get through an overwhelming situation without your safety behavior.
Write out some of your fears or hesitation about implementing this
chapter’s advice in your own life.
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If you’re not enthusiastic about jumping right into exposure

therapy, that’s perfectly fine. Remember that you can start out with
 imaginal exposure. You also might consider seeking the help of a
trained psychologist who can offer additional strategies and
accountability as you work through your exposure hierarchy. Finally,
know that although exposure therapy can feel daunting at the
beginning, as you complete the first steps of your hierarchy, your
confidence will grow by leaps and bounds. The momentum you gain
early on will make the more anxiety-producing steps much easier
than they seem now.

Chapter Takeaways
Congratulations! You now have a toolbox full of strategies to boost your
self-confidence, and I’m willing to bet you have already started
approaching your life a little differently. Maybe you’ve begun making
small talk with other parents at school pickup, or putting your hat in the
ring for opportunities you didn’t think were worth pursuing before. A little
bit of knowledge goes a long way, but now it’s up to you to continue
carrying on the practices you’ve learned in this book. In the next chapter ,
I’ll teach you how to make confidence a lifelong habit.

ACTION ITEMS

Here are some specific actions you can take to implement the lessons and
ideas you learned in this chapter:

1. If social situations are some of your biggest confidence challenges,

visit psychologist Ellen Hendriksen’s website:
www.ellenhendriksen.com/mountains-to-molehills-challenge . She
has compiled a long list of low-risk challenges for the socially
anxious, including ways to practice being the center of attention and
talking about yourself.
2. If you feel comfortable doing so, tell a friend or family member
about your exposure hierarchy. Ask them to make sure you practice
frequently and to help you celebrate when you master something on
your list.
3. It may sound funny, but if you’re struggling with a fear of failure, try
making mistakes on purpose. Trip in public or pronounce a word
wrong in a noticeable way. You’ll likely find that the ensuing
awkwardness isn’t as bad as you feared.
4. Search for “failure résumés” online. You’ll find scores of successful
people who have published lists of the schools that rejected them,
companies they started that went bust, and jobs they did not get. As
you’ll see, failures are not what define a person; they are merely a by-
product of putting oneself out there.
5. Set a goal to kick your confidence crutches to the curb for a while.
Go a week without fiddling with your phone in any social settings, or
arrive early to all of your meetings and chat with your colleagues.
 CHAPTER EIGHT

MOVING FORWARD

“ONE’S DESTINATION IS NEVER A PLACE, BUT

RATHER A NEW WAY OF LOOKING AT
THINGS.”
— HENRY MILLER

Improving your self-confidence isn’t a “one-and-done” kind of deal. It’s

something you’ll have to keep practicing, and you’re sure to encounter ups
and downs along the way. Some days will go all wrong. You’ll make
embarrassing mistakes, you won’t get your point across, people will be
rude, and you might just want to go home and pull the covers over your
head.
But when those days inevitably come, remember all the great things
you’re striving toward. Building confidence leads to less fear and anxiety,
greater motivation, more resilience, better relationships, and a stronger
sense of your authentic self. You’re not the sort of person who would give
all that up just because of a few setbacks—you haven’t come this far just
to turn back! You know by now that progress is made up of small steps.
Even when you feel like you’re going backward, you can always come
back to basics and get yourself back on track.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

Stay in the Moment
Confidence comes from action, and you can take action only in the
present. You already know that replaying your past mistakes thousands of
times—far past the point where you’ve gleaned any useful insight about
how to improve—keeps you from action. The same is true for worrying
about what could go wrong in the future.
 Although I hope you’re finishing this book energized and ready to
pursue your goals, you don’t want to be so busy chasing your next
accomplishment that you lose track of all the wonderful things happening
right here in the present moment. When you find yourself time traveling to
the past or future, review what you learned about mindfulness in chapter 4
. You can also refer to the Resources section to build your mindfulness
skills.

Develop Long-Term Goals

The first step in developing long-term goals is getting a sense of the
progress you’ve made. In chapter 1 , you completed a Self-Confidence
Scale . Take some time now to do it again, using a separate sheet of paper
or a pen with a different color. I’m betting that if you’ve made a good faith
effort at trying even some of the exercises in this book, your answers will
reflect improved self-confidence. Note any observations you have about
items that have changed and those that haven’t.
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In chapter 2 , you set confidence goals for yourself in a number of life

areas, such as career and family. Review the goals you set for yourself.
Use the space below to note progress you’ve made. Try not to minimize
how far you’ve come.
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Oftentimes, after you’ve learned skills such as those in this book and
get a taste of success, you’ll notice other areas of your life where you
could apply them. Remember the question I asked you in the beginning of
the book: What would you do if you had all the confidence you wanted?
Dare to imagine what other goals you might set for yourself.
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The information you’ve gathered by retaking the Self-Confidence

Scale and reviewing the goals from chapter 2 will help you plan your long-
term goals. I’ve found it helpful to break them into time frames.

In the next month, I will:

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In the next three to six months, I will:

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In the next year, I will:

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You may be surprised by the power of the simple act of putting your
goals in writing and regularly reviewing them to make sure you’re on
track. You’ll likely find that you’re much more alert to potential
opportunities and connections around you, just because you’ve made a
written commitment to yourself to improve.

Accept Setbacks
Progress is frequently not linear. We make some strides, then hit a bump in
the road. I don’t expect you to jump for joy when you experience a
setback. But after your initial gut reaction of getting angry about the
problem or feeling disappointed, step back and ask yourself, “What can I
learn here? What opportunities are hidden behind this obstacle?”
Remember, you’ve gathered many skills throughout this book, skills that
can help you cope with whatever lapse you encounter. When you hit a
bump in the road, at least that means you’re going somewhere.
I’ve included a worksheet you can use when you’re dealing with some
type of setback or obstacle in your self-confidence journey. It incorporates
many of the skills we’ve used in this workbook.
Turning Obstacles into Opportunities

Situation:

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Thought (What I’m telling myself):

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Feelings (Resulting emotions):

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Probability of this occurring (How likely is it that what I’m thinking will actually happen?):

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Consequences if this occurs (How bad would it be?):

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Coping statement (What can I say to myself that is more realistic, more encouraging?):

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Action(s) I will take:

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Opportunity (How I can learn or grow by dealing with this):

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WHAT IF IT’S MORE THAN A SETBACK?

What if you find your confidence sinking to an all-time low, despite your
best efforts to follow the advice in this book? First of all, know that it’s
not your fault. You’re brave to acknowledge that you’re struggling. Please
reach out to someone you trust and let them know how you’re feeling.
Talking with someone often helps you get back on track more quickly than
you’d expect. If there is no one in your immediate community who can
fulfill this role, find yourself a good mental health care professional. This
is often a good idea in general when dealing with self-confidence issues;
while many of your loved ones may be capable of holding space for you to
vent and process, they may not have the capacity to help you to get back
up from the bottom. The Resources section can help you find a mental
health professional. You, as much as anyone else, deserve confidence and
the peace and happiness that go with it, and a caring mental health
practitioner can truly work wonders to get you to that place.

DON’T LET SETBACKS STOP YOU

Review these tips when you encounter obstacles in your confidence
journey. I’m sure you’ll notice several harken back to concepts we’ve
previously covered. It often takes reading things several times before
we get it.

Expect setbacks. Change takes time and often requires frequent

attempts. For example, most smokers require five to seven attempts
before they finally quit. Were these attempts failures or part of their
eventual success?
Check your stress level. An increase in physical or mental stress
may be the reason you’re struggling.
Practice self-care. Make self-care activities a priority by writing
them down, almost like a policy.
Keep at it. If your plan involves specific activities—keeping a
thought diary or practicing mindfulness—don’t stop, even if you’re
doing well. Sometimes it’s the good times, not the stressful ones, that
take you off guard.
 Recommit. Remind yourself of your goals and what you care deeply
about. Recommit yourself to activities aligned with your values.
Remember you’re human. We’re all imperfect; it’s part of being
human. Remind yourself that setbacks happen to everyone.
Laugh when you can. Nurturing your sense of humor can be a great
asset in embracing the ups and downs of life.
Seek out support. If you’re feeling badly about “screwing up,” your
first instinct may be to hide in a hole. But this is exactly the time you
need to reach out.
Give yourself credit. Remind yourself of the steps you’ve taken,
regardless of how small they might seem to you.
Begin again. You don’t have to wait until tomorrow or Monday to
start doing the right thing. You can make the choice to honor your
intentions in the very next moment.

CONTINUE YOUR PRACTICE

Confidence is a little like a muscle: If you don’t keep up with your

exercises, you might find your skills weakening. Take some time to review
the notes you’ve added to this workbook. What are the practices that you
benefited from the most? For instance, did you find diaphragmatic
breathing to be a helpful tool in calming your body? Are you still
practicing and implementing this skill, or have you let this lapse? What
about keeping track of your thoughts? Are you still keeping a thought
diary? You don’t have to do this every single day, but it’s good to do it
periodically so you can watch for faulty thinking patterns creeping back
in. Are you still challenging yourself to face feared situations?
Use this time to design your own confidence tool kit by going through
the book, chapter by chapter, and noting which skills, techniques, and
ideas you want to focus on in the future. Write them down here, then rank
them in terms of helpfulness.
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 A final suggestion is to set a weekly check-in time to revisit this
workbook. Make it an enjoyable time you look forward to. Make yourself
a cup of tea or another favorite beverage, and turn on some music that puts
you in a positive frame of mind. Reread sections you found particularly
helpful, and make notes of areas you want to focus on in the coming week.

THE WORLD NEEDS A CONFIDENT YOU

“WITH THE REALIZATION OF ONE’S OWN

POTENTIAL AND SELF-CONFIDENCE IN ONE’S
ABILITY, ONE CAN BUILD A BETTER WORLD.”
—DALAI LAMA

Think about someone who has made a big difference in your life,
whether they know it or not. Maybe it’s a friend or partner who makes you
smile when you need it most. Maybe it’s a songwriter whose music really
speaks to you and gets you through tough times. Or maybe it’s a leader in
your community or from history whose message, vision, and commitment
inspire you to keep going.
Now imagine a different world—one in which that person decided not
to be seen at all. Imagine that your partner never had the courage to ask
you on a date, figuring the risk of rejection was too high. Imagine that
your favorite songwriter never released an album, deciding their music
just wasn’t any good. And imagine the inspirational leader never had the
courage to stand up for the principles that are so dear to you.
Nearly everything you find beautiful or enjoyable in life exists because
someone else decided to put it there for you. They likely felt nagging self-
doubt or perhaps near-paralyzing fear about what they were doing, but
their values carried them through. They stepped out the door and braved
the attention and criticism for their efforts, and the world is a better place
as a result.
You can be just as brave as your heroes. With the tools in this book,
you are ready to stop hiding your light under a bushel. You know how to
take meaningful steps toward living the values closest to your heart, no
matter what your inner critic might say. Your newfound self-confidence is
a key that unlocks the cage where all your unique gifts have been trapped
for so long. Now, you can show them to others—and every time you do,
the world becomes a little better than it was before. The rest of us are so
grateful that you chose to be seen.
 RESOURCES

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

The Happiness Trap by Russ Harris
Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life by Steven Hayes

Anxiety
The Anxiety Toolkit by Alice Boyes
How to Be Yourself by Ellen Hendriksen
Dying of Embarrassment by Barbara Markway, Cheryl Carmin, C. Alec
Pollard, and Teresa Flynn
Painfully Shy by Barbara Markway and Gregory Markway
Anxiety and Depression Association of America: adaa.org

Body Image and Eating Disorders

Health at Every Size by Linda Bacon
The Self-Compassion Diet by Jean Fain
National Eating Disorders Association: nationaleatingdisorders.org

Cognitive Behavior Therapy

“50 Common Cognitive Distortions” by Alice Boyes. Psychology Today , -
January 17, 2013. www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/in-
practice/201301/50-common-cognitive-distortions
The Healthy Mind Toolkit by Alice Boyes
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Made Simple by Seth Gillihan
Retrain Your Brain by Seth Gillihan

Confidence
Presence by Amy Cuddy
The Confidence Gap by Russ Harris
The Confidence Code by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman
The Confidence Code for Girls by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman

Depression
Beyond Blue by Therese Borchard
Uncovering Happiness by Elisha Goldstein
A list of resources to help with managing depression:
www.everydayhealth.com/depression/guide/resources

Finding Help
“13 Qualities to Look For in an Effective Psychotherapist,” by Susan
Krauss Whitbourne. Psychology Today , August 8, 2011,
www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/fulfillment-any-age/201108/13-
qualities-look-in-effective-psychotherapist
Finding an ACT therapist:
contextualscience.org/tips_for_seeking_therapist
Finding a CBT therapist: www.findcbt.org/xFAT
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: suicidepreventionlifeline.org
1-800-273-8255

Introversion
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by
Susan Cain
“The Power of Introverts.” Susan Cain. TED Talk, February 2012.
www.ted.com/talks/susan_cain_the_power_of_introverts

Mindfulness
True Refuge by Tara Brach
Advice Not Given by Mark Epstein
Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics by Dan Harris
The Road Home by Ethan Nichtern
Real Happiness by Sharon Salzberg
Review of meditation apps: www.healthline.com/health/mental-
health/top-meditation-iphone-android-apps

Resilience
Resilient by Rick Hanson and Forrest Hanson

Self-Compassion
Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach
The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion by Christopher K. Germer
Self-Compassion by Kristin Neff
The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook by Kristin Neff and Christopher
Germer
More on self-compassion, including an assessment: self-compassion.org

Stress
The Upside of Stress by Kelly McGonigal
“How to Make Stress Your Friend.” Kelly McGonigal. TED Talk, June
2013.
www.ted.com/talks/kelly_mcgonigal_how_to_make_stress_your_frien
d
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 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We would like to thank Susan Randol, our editor, for her guidance and
support on this project. We’re also grateful for Greg Markway, who read
our drafts and let us know when our writing got too cheesy. Jesse
Markway, who has both blessings and talents, is the link between us that
made this book possible. And even though Celia jokes that her inner critics
are named Negative Nancy and Neil, the truth is that her parents, Nancy
March and Neil Ampel, have always supported her dream of writing a
book.
 ABOUT THE AUTHORS

BARBARA MARKWAY, PhD , is a licensed psychologist with nearly 30

years of experience and is the author of four other books. Her first book,
Dying of Embarrassment: Help for Social Anxiety and Phobia , was named
one of the most scientifically valid self-help books in a study published in
Professional Psychology, Research and Practice . She has appeared on
Good Morning America and the Today show, and was featured in the PBS
documentary Afraid of People . Her work has appeared in the New York
Times, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, Prevention, Essence, American
Health, Real Simple, Live Happy, and Business Insider . She has been
heard on radio shows across the country and she blogs for Psychology
Today . She lives in St. Louis, Missouri, with her husband, Greg. Learn
more about Dr. Markway on her website, BarbaraMarkway.com .

CELIA AMPEL is a writer whose work has appeared in the Miami Herald
, South Florida Business Journal , Daily Business Review, and other
publications. She lives in Miami, Florida.